We the people

 BrahmoUtsavam in Kanpur!! Surprised and taken aback!
The Telugu association in our unit is very strong and have helped establish a Balaji Mandir here. So they conduct this utsavam every year and this year saw them in full grandeur. I assure you the idol and the decorations are as beautiful and elegant as the original.

The event and the celebrations, made me wonder at the beautiful amalgamation that is human kind. A Telugu speaking Vadiyar, conducting a very South Indian festival, in a land where Hindi is spoken, and worship is also conducted differently. So that implies he has to cater to this eclectic mixture. I am sure he too has learnt through trial and error over the years and found various ways and means to make it appealing to the North Indians.
I could see it in the way he encouraged the crowd in his broken Hindi, at times translating the rituals and at times explaining the religious significance of the function itself (I attended the Kalyana Utsavam).

The huge mega sized Laddoo that had been made for the function and the golden Kassu malai that had been donated by a devotee....

This vadiyar himself lives in a dilapidated one room kitchen next to the temple, and the entire feel is that of an Agrahara in Mylopore, yet superimpose this image with Hindi speaking bretheren and a temple complex that houses Puri Jaganath and Durga Matha...you will get my drift.

We try to recreate an identity similar to; but also an amalgamation.
We adapt and adopt.
We learn and evaluate.
We integrate: that is humanity.

Comments

  1. sorry anu...not got into that habit...but yu are an inspiration...
    from now on I go armed....and trigger happy!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Situations like these make one feel at home far away from home and also keeps all cultures united. Your thoughts at the end conveyed beautifully.

    BTw let me know if you have got my mail on your box regarding life skills and thanks for dropping by my blog.

    ReplyDelete

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