Ninth and Final Day of Durga

The grand finale stated at 4:40 am, so that meant I started walking to the ashram a little before 4:00. Wasn't sure what to expect on the walk. It wasn't still and quiet. There were a lot of people out and about for that time of day--even a couple of large groups of guys playing cricket in the park that I walk through.) One of the noteworthy aspects of walking through the city is the smell: open sewage, men urinating everywhere, and piles of garbage (there is some relief to this not to so pretty picture.) I thought the morning might give a break to that, but it was somehow enhanced. It was probably just my expectation of a cool, fresh morning. Moving onto the more positive parts.

Close to a 100 people showed up for this early event. A lot of the ceremony was the same, but they added in hacking open a melon that had been injected with red dye/goat painted on the outside to simulate the blood of a goat. From what I understand, the ceremony usually includes chopping off the head of a goat, but Gurudev didn't care for that, so he changed it to a melon. Somehow the goat and the goddess of the day, Kali, ties back to the experience I had after visiting the Kali Temple at Amber Fort and the goat ate my necklace. This was some sort of blessing for me, so it is starting to make a little more sense? Symbolism and rituals--a rather new world for me.

The 10:00 usual morning ceremony was still on the list. Then a a second special ceremony was thrown into the mix: starting a fire by rubbing a string back and forth on a wooden stick placed in another wooden platform that had a piece of wool (the rubbing two sticks together to create fire idea.) The fire starting effort was made by the head pundit (dressed in white), supervised by Gurudev (and all of the official spiritual officials who wear orange/white/red cloth) and two other men who looked strong. All three got the object to smoke and then it progressed to starting a fire with wool, cow dung, and wood. Keep in mind that this all happening on the second floor of the ashram. I am not sure if it was the burning cow dung or the wool that created a very "special" smell, (it could be added to the morning list of smells.) It all reminded me of childhood camping trips without the cow dung or the string.

The evening ceremony was very busy too. Probably closer to 200 plus people. They undressed the Divine Mother and handed out blessed water/barley grass. Please excuse the perspective by a very uninformed Westerner. I just know that it was a big deal and people were almost acting like the xmas sales at Target to get the water/grass. As always, fascinating to watch human behavior even in a religious/spiritual setting. Gurudev was very gracious to ask if I even wanted to bother with the "goods" and what they were. I am planning to give my holy water to someone, but I will keep the grass clippings. The pundits handed out the flower garlands that were taken off the pictures and statues. They were very kind to include me. (I fed mine to a cow the next morning who had been hobbling around with a broken leg for two weeks. If something needed help from the gods, she did. It seemed to work. We have tracked down officials and more phone numbers for people who might be able to help her. I have been looking at her every day, but today, the end of the bone was sticking out of her skin. She accepted the flowers while resting in the middle of the busy roads--life in India. There is some sort of Humanes Society. I plan to visit at some point--curious.)

Back to last night. After the ashram ceremony ended at 10:00 pm or so, we headed off to a wedding. Yet another unique experience. We caught the tail end of it, but the wedding was on a giant grass field with a stage set up on one side (similar to a stage for a rock band.) The bride (part of an arranged marriage) was getting videoed and photographed. For some reason they threw "The Three Muskateers" into the photo mix. Maybe be will make some Indian tabloid--who knows. She looked exhausted. Next to the stage they had the furniture, car, and other objects that were part of the dowery. Are you getting a sense of how surreal all of this is???