A trip into town to buy linen fabric for some trousers was on the agenda for Friday. As we got closer to town, I started to notice huge piles of clay cooking pots outside nearly every shop. There was lots of traffic. As we neared the city centre huge noisy pa systems on the streets played loud devotional music. "Is there a festival?" I asked the taxi driver. "Yes, Madam, 3 millions of womens is coming to temple. Is big festival of womens" He went on to tell me that women come from all over India, and from whole Kerala for this festival. I did my shopping. As we drove back I noticed little brick piles and kindling all along the side of the road. I asked the driver again what it was about. "They cooking" he said. Me: "All of them?" "Yes," he answered "they all cooking rice and bring to temple." My table mates at lunch were planning to go shopping in town on Saturday. I advised them not to, unless they were prepared to fight their way past 3 million rice cooking "womens".
Beena and Bindhu had a great treat in store for me today. Rubbing down with powder. It was like being sandpapered. I hope my skin will be soft when I wash the powder off. In any case I am well spiced! They then put me in a wooden box which had a stool in it and a hole on top for my head. A pressure cooker atop a bunsen burner feeds steam into the box via a plastic hose fitted to the bit where the pressure valve is. And I sat in the box as they steamed me. I thought I would get away clean, but the banana leaf was applied again. So 4 hairwashes again today.
I quizzed them about the festival. Beena is Christian and will not be attending. But Bindhu will make her rice at home and go along. The rice is sweet. The roadside cooking fires will be used by the out-of-towners. And all those women really do make rice pudding and take it along to the temple. Transposing the experience to my native Scotland, I found it difficult to visualise the streets of Glasgow lined with little fires on which Mars bars are deep fried in earthenware pots whilst huge speakers blast out "It's only a step to Jesus" and other Salvation Army type hits.
There are some photos on this blog which show just how it looked when I was there on Friday morning. This Attukal Pongala festival holds the world record for the largest gathering of women.
Beena and Bindhu had a great treat in store for me today. Rubbing down with powder. It was like being sandpapered. I hope my skin will be soft when I wash the powder off. In any case I am well spiced! They then put me in a wooden box which had a stool in it and a hole on top for my head. A pressure cooker atop a bunsen burner feeds steam into the box via a plastic hose fitted to the bit where the pressure valve is. And I sat in the box as they steamed me. I thought I would get away clean, but the banana leaf was applied again. So 4 hairwashes again today.
I quizzed them about the festival. Beena is Christian and will not be attending. But Bindhu will make her rice at home and go along. The rice is sweet. The roadside cooking fires will be used by the out-of-towners. And all those women really do make rice pudding and take it along to the temple. Transposing the experience to my native Scotland, I found it difficult to visualise the streets of Glasgow lined with little fires on which Mars bars are deep fried in earthenware pots whilst huge speakers blast out "It's only a step to Jesus" and other Salvation Army type hits.
There are some photos on this blog which show just how it looked when I was there on Friday morning. This Attukal Pongala festival holds the world record for the largest gathering of women.
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| this is not the rice pudding, it is what they put under the banana leaf |
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