Last sunday we arrived back from an awesome vacation in Sri Lanka (post to come) where we had some great weather and hung out on the beach for a couple days. Upon our return however, I immediately headed out to watch some celebratory effigy burning for the hindu celebration of Dussehra.
As the story goes (or as I understand it) Dussehra is the celebration of the victory of Lord Rama over the demon, and king of lanka, Ravana. Ravana apparently stole Rama's wife and brought her to Sri Lanka, so Rama had to go kick his ass (along with his brother and son)
I had heard from our friends Jason and Justin that there would be some big effigies set on fire near their neighborhood of Visant Vihar. After a little searching, and some help from a friendly tuk-tuk driver, we were able to join a crowd bound for some Dussehra fun down the road in Air India Colony. As we approached the school grounds where everything was going on the crowd became immense, with people lining streets and perched atop the school building itself. Check it out.
These people had a great view of the three tall effigies (Ravana, his son Meghnadh and his brother Kumbhakarna) that were to be set on fire following a reenactment of the battle between Rama and Ravana. While we couldn't really see the dance from our spot within the crowd on the field, we could see the massive figures of the demon and his family.
Everyone was super excited to see these guys go up in flames, and after the reenactment the first one was lit. I expected that it would burn gradually until the wood broke and it fell to the ground. Wrong. Arjun, one of the drivers at AES who we had run into with his children on the way to the grounds, informed me that inside of each figure were tons of fireworks, and that the burning would be way more intense. Indeed it was.
Once Ravana's brother went up the crowd began to cheer. His son (whose burnt corpse I would later raid along with tons of schoolchildren) was next, leaving the demon king Ravana for last. Of course, his demise was loudest and brightest.
Once the big guy went down all the children (us included) rushed towards the fallen demon bodies to salvage a piece of the corpse. Apparently they are to be kept in the house for good luck until the next burning, when you get a fresh one.
After much effort and a couple splinters I was able to grab myself a piece of Ravana's son Meghnadh (Ravana was all gone within seconds). So now when we walk Ruby we have the protection of Lord Rama. Needless to say we are way more hardcore. Stray dogs watch out!
These people had a great view of the three tall effigies (Ravana, his son Meghnadh and his brother Kumbhakarna) that were to be set on fire following a reenactment of the battle between Rama and Ravana. While we couldn't really see the dance from our spot within the crowd on the field, we could see the massive figures of the demon and his family.
Everyone was super excited to see these guys go up in flames, and after the reenactment the first one was lit. I expected that it would burn gradually until the wood broke and it fell to the ground. Wrong. Arjun, one of the drivers at AES who we had run into with his children on the way to the grounds, informed me that inside of each figure were tons of fireworks, and that the burning would be way more intense. Indeed it was.
Once Ravana's brother went up the crowd began to cheer. His son (whose burnt corpse I would later raid along with tons of schoolchildren) was next, leaving the demon king Ravana for last. Of course, his demise was loudest and brightest.
Once the big guy went down all the children (us included) rushed towards the fallen demon bodies to salvage a piece of the corpse. Apparently they are to be kept in the house for good luck until the next burning, when you get a fresh one.
After much effort and a couple splinters I was able to grab myself a piece of Ravana's son Meghnadh (Ravana was all gone within seconds). So now when we walk Ruby we have the protection of Lord Rama. Needless to say we are way more hardcore. Stray dogs watch out!
cool!
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