Drinking the Emptiness Away


Drinking the Emptiness Away

Kerala is a communist state. Off licences and cinemas are all run by the state. Education is a priority. This leads to the highest literacy in all of India. All this leads to very well educated taxi drivers and others in a state with low levels of employment, the only buoyant economic sector being tourism: medical, dental and general.

People in Kerala swear by the system and the Communists are voted in every time.


 Old man with Communist heroes in the background

The religious traditions stand in stark relief to this programmatic ideology and in wild contrast to western progressive thinking.



 Men hanging from hooks inserted into the skin.

The Indian authorities claim to ban activities like this but appear to turn a blind eye to it since they are present to police it. This is the second time I have attended the festival. Oddly, no one will tell me its name.

Does anyone know its name?

This is the Power of Now. There can't be much past or future at this moment. Not for those men.

Locals cram the streets of Trivandrum and physical skirmishs break out. What causes this aggression is a mystery. Many participants appear to be in a drugged state. This is unsurprising when you get a look at the hooks through the bicep, back and calves or the three foot skewers or swords that pass through the cheeks. These skewered boys have minders whose job it is to protect them whilst simultaneously pushing them around and generally making life even more uncomfortable. Perhaps this is a rite of purification or penance but this is Hinduism not Christianity and the procession and its meaning is quite unreadable to me.

Does anyone know what might be happening here?


Not all the participants in the procession have their skin pierced in this way.


If you like tea with your travel see Singing Bird Tea

at





This elephant has got away lightly without even the chalk hieroglyphics that appear on many religious elephants.

There is a procession of many elephants which takes place maybe 100 miles north of where I am now in Trivandrum. I hope to attend this festival in the coming weeks.

Signing off until the first week of November when I write from Pachaloor near the Kerala coast.

Find me, Robert Karl Harding on Twitter: @socratesl


The writer at seven years old

 Happy Travelling!
Location: 56 Loftus Rd, Shepherd's Bush, London, Greater London W12 7EN, UK

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Visiting Bessho in the Japanese Alps

Image
Welcome to readers from Myanmar and Namibia Bessho, Ueda. The Asama shinkansen from Ueno station Tokyo took a supremely comfortable hour to roll into Ueda City. From there a small, six carriage, narrow gauge train called the Dentetsu took me on the thirty minute ride to the village of Bessho. I was there to feel the contrast with Tokyo’s greater metropolitan district populated by 44 million people and to visit the best example of a wooden temple in Japan. Even though Bessho had a population of 2361 people only a handful people were visible at any one time. It was quiet. Uematsuya At Uematsuya Ryokan What a nice surprise A matcha tea served within moments of my arrival The food at Uematsuya is outstanding. To stay for one night with breakfast and dinner cost around $60.  If you like matcha green tea visit:  Making matcha in Uji, Kyoto Here's something about staying in a Japanese Style Roo
Read more

Driving to the Russian border.

Image
It was an invigorating drive down from the Finnmark plateau. It took 7 hours and it snowed incessantly. The road was solid white like a toboggan run. We arrived in Ivalo, a large village razed by the Germans in 1945. Another 40 odd kilometres brought us to the border. There are two choices of border post. The official one at Raya Jooseppi on route 91 to Murmansk and the old border crossing at Paksuniemi.
Read more

Lofoten Dream

Image
So I am in the Arctic Circle again. It's otherworldly in the Lofoten Islands.  Snowstorms come out of nowhere. Driving the European route E4, a rhythm established itself - -  bridge, bend, tunnel, fjord, rain, sun, hail, snowmelt, then freeze, then sea eagle, bridge, bend, tunnel, fjord . . . Many travellers mention the tiny towns towards the end of the archipelago. Personally though I found the archipelago midsection utterly jawdropping. In fact I went back to it. Twice. Happy Travels everyone!
Read more