Diwali, part do

Happy Diwali... again! Yesterday was Deep Diwali, a little quieter a celebration, but plenty of lights nonetheless. I believe this celebration focuses more on the spiritual side of things and less on the fanfare. Fireworks were essentially non-existent and there wasn't a full-blown concert going on next door. We also had paneer at the ashram for the first time, palak paneer to be more exact. If you've ever been to an Indian restaurant you probably know that palak paneer is spinach with cheese curd. The spinach was actually grown here at the ashram, then cooked to oblivion. Delicious.


How auspicious (I have heard this word more times here in India than ever before in my life), a full moon on the same night. View from the ashram roof.

Loknath moves among the candles lining the ashram steps.

Happy Diwali!

Yesterday was Diwali here in India, basically a holiday as big as Christmas. People exchange gifts and cards and since it is the Festival of Light, celebrating the god Ram’s victory over the god Ravan, everything is lit up. We spent much of the day placing candles all around the ashram, even up on the roof. In fact, I finally saw the monkeys today!! Here is my favorite shot that I got:


Pretty cool, huh? Well, the monkey didn’t think so. As it turned out he was jumping up onto this roof to come over and tell me just how uncool it was that I was taking his picture. Basically, he just came to the edge and gave me a menacing look. It was enough to freak me out, though, and I think my monkey craving is satisfied now. Yesterday Soham, one of the boys here, found a king cobra under one of the walkway stones. Snakes I never have any desire to see, especially the poisonous kind. I’m trying to adopt an Indian attitude, however, which means I should regard him as an incarnation of Shiva, one of the many, many gods in Hindu lore. Basically the thing lives here because he has found a good food source, namely the many frogs that live here too. So it’s been heavy on the animals these past couple days.

Diwali is also celebrated by setting off fireworks… lots and lots of fireworks. They started around 9 p.m. and went until 11 or so. Basically they’re just set off by the people who live here; it isn’t organized per se, as it is for the 4th of July, so they’re just going off everywhere, with no breaks. It's what I imagine a war zone might feel like.

One of the really cool things I got to do tonight was make an offering to the Ganges. I had seen this on TV before and thought it looked beautiful. It's even more beautiful in person - handmade candles drifting down the river en masse. It was an amazing experience.


An artistic take on the lights of Diwali.


The boys setting off their own fireworks and having a grand old time.


Making our offering candles.