With reference to my 1st blog:
The headline from Monday's newspaper (our first real monsoon weather):
Mumbai sees season’s wettest 24-hour spell
Evidently, we had about 90-100mm of rain on Monday (almost 4 inches). Today is going to be rainy as well...maybe now we will get a taste of the monsoon.
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In our 4 short weeks here, we have experienced 5 holidays or festivals - Hindi, National, Parsi, Muslim and Jain. And a Catholic one is yet to come. India is an amazing convergence of religious traditions.
In our 4 short weeks here, we have experienced 5 holidays or festivals - Hindi, National, Parsi, Muslim and Jain. And a Catholic one is yet to come. India is an amazing convergence of religious traditions.
On August 10, some Hindus celebrated the birthday of Krishna with a Dahi Handi festival. Earthen pots were hung all around town on the sides of the roads. Trucks spilling over with teams of boys and men (sometimes girls) drove around town looking for the hanging clay pots. They stop, unload from the truck, and form a standing human pyramid, sometimes up to 8 tiers high. The top tier has to crack the pot and down falls its contents - a mixture of milk, dry fruits and ghee. They are hung around 20-30 feet high in the air with the help of a rope. Silver coins are hung along with the rope, which are later distributed as prize to the winners. (Lord Krishna was said to have stolen milk and curds as a young child.)
On August 15th the nation celebrated the anniversary of Indian independence from the British in 1947.
A bit about their independence (not heavily researched):
After WWII, the British government realized that they didn't have either the forces or the support, internationally and nationally, to control the increasingly restless India. The date of August 15th was chosen as the date to transfer power to coincide with the 2nd anniversary of the Japanese surrender from WWII. The Indian Independence Act 1947 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom partitioned British India into the two new independent dominions of India and Pakistan.
Saturday, August 18th - Parsi New Year
A small religious community, which exists mostly in Mumbai, is Zoroastrianism. The followers are called Parsi because the religion arrived in India from Persia. This religion was established by Zarathustra in 6th or 7th century BC. The followers of this religion exiled from Iran in the 7th century AD. because of religious persecutions by the Muslims. They arrived in Gujarat region of India.
The Parsis believe in the existence of one invisible God. They believe that there is a continuous war between the good forces (forces of light) and the evil forces (forces of darkness). The good forces will win if people will do good deeds think good and speak well. God is represented in their temples through fire, which symbolizes light.
For more info, watch this YouTube video (it takes a little while to get to the dialogue)
Monday, August 20th - Muslims celebrated their holiday of Eid ul-Fitr (often abbreviated as Eid), the end of Ramadan, the month-long fasting period for Muslims. The fasting is for both body and soul - no food or drink during the daylight hours as well as no evil actions, thoughts or words. The following day, Monday, August 20th was the Muslim. There is a mosque very close to us that is in the sea (called Haji Ali), only reachable during low-tide. Very fittingly, it was low-tide the night of Aug 19th when the fast breaks, so this mosque and the surrounding, wet sea floor was filled with people celebrating this holiday.
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| The walk during lowering tide to Haji Ali |
So, lots of festivals and new things to learn.
Today, Friday, August 31st, a Novena for Mother Mary starts - 9 days of praying and Mass - leading up to her birthday on September 8th. Many of the Catholic churches will hold extra daily masses on these next 9 days of the Novena - sometimes 8 Masses in the day (and these are just the ones in English!). There will be 10 times for Mass in English on her birthday and the following Sunday.
At Mount Mary Church in Bandra (a region within Mumbai), this is what they have to say about this feast day:
The term Bandra Fair refers to the celebrations that are connected with the annual Feast of Our Lady of the Mount on 8thSeptember, known as the Feast of the Nativity (Birth) of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The official Feast is celebrated over an “Octave”, i.e. an eight-day day period, from the Sunday after the 8th of September to the next Sunday. And this eight-day celebration is preceded by a nine-day “novena” of prayer directed to the Virgin Mary. That makes the Bandra Feast last a total of 17 days! During the novena, the masses are both in the mornings and evenings; during the octave, masses are only in the mornings, leaving the Basilica free for “darshan” (viewing) especially for those of other faiths.
I can't wait until the next holiday!
Mary
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