Fu Dao Le

          'Fu Dao Le' ! sound's weird? Well ,this is a Chinese word  and let me tell you the reason for writing this post.It is the Chinese new year and spring festival season and the term is related to that.So here's wishing a very happy and prosperous new year to the Chinese readers if any:).According to the Chinese calender, year 2011 is 4078 for them and is regarded as the  'year of Rabbit /'Xin Mao' .Last year 2010 was 'year of tiger'.They have animals as mascots for representing their years ,and they have 12 animals as mascots and these year names are repeated in a sequence every 12 years.This year , Chinese new year falls on the 3 rd February,which is today!

           I learnt about Fu Dao Le through my opposite house resident ,who has her origins from China.Last Evening as I was having a stroll in front of my apartment ,I noticed that the opposite house had  Red banner attached  to  the front door with golden color scripts written in Chinese and also some decorative elements and pictures of Chinese god/goddess/dragons attached to it .On inquiring her with utmost curiosity,she narrated to me explaining that it was their new year and  they  have the tradition of placing this particular banner on the front door during the new year to fill their upcoming year full of luck and cheers. The script mainly had the word 'Fu' which was written upside down and  was comprehended by anyone visiting the home as 'Fu Dao Le'='Luck has arrived'.Actually ,the word 'Fu' means luck ;'Dao Le 'means 'has come' and also word Dao is used in another sense too which means 'down or  to fall'.So ,when the 'Fu' word  is written  upside down ,it is understood and read as 'Fu Dao Le'.The purpose of placing these posters on the door  during their new year ,was to invite the fortune or good luck .The color red in the banner signified  danger sign to  the monster 'Nian ',who visited the Chinese houses during the New year's eve.It was believed that the  particular color would frighten the monster which also signified bad omen.

            Today morning,inspired by their traditions, I also visited the "Ranch Market"near my place,which is an exclusive Chinese market which sells all the Chinese grocery items,vegetables ,fruits and mainly sea food.The place was decorated for new year with red lanterns and bells all over the ceiling ;some decorative items ,red traditional greeting cards,food stuff for sale and was crowded for the festival sales.There I talked to a few people and learnt a few other interesting facts. The Chinese new year lasts fro 15 days from day 1 ,till the full moon day .The full moon day is another festival for them and is 'Lantern festival',which is also celebrated by lighting various colorful lanterns outside the houses and streets and a hearty family  dinner with steamed dumplings . A strange fact what a lady explained to me was that,on the new year day ,they would not clean the house, as that would reflect that they would be sweeping away all the fortune for the house!Amazed and perplexed ,I returned back home wondering about the traditions.

PS:Here are few photographs from the Ranch Market.

Beautiful  Red Lanterns decorated.

                                                                                    

Lantern and a bell 

Chinese script read as 'Happy new year'(as told by the cashier)

Some beautiful greeting cards

Some decorative items and festive sale items displayed.

Why is "Alpana"done?

'Alpana ' as it is commonly called in Bengal ,'Kolam'in some parts of south India,'Aripana' in Bihar, and 'Rangoli'as it is commonly called in most parts of India,is a very auspicious art form portrayed in most of the houses.'Rangoli 'is derived from the words -'rang'=colors and 'avalli'=rows ;Sanskrit words,and is an art form where colors are used in an organized manner in rows to create some pattern or design.

          Rangoli used grounded dried rice floor traditionally for drawing the designs and was later replaced  by dried lime stone /chalk powder .colors were created traditionally by the natural colors like 'kumkum',a red powder made from the traditional 'crocus sativus /'kesar' plant;yellow'haldi'or turmeric powder derived from 'circum longa plant ;black  color  from ashes from the burnt wood /charcoal ,brown color fron the wood saw dust,green from dried leaves ,and so on.;but gradually these colors were replaced by the chemicals and have a variety of colors like red ,green ,black ,orange yellow available now.

       Rangoli is drawn in most parts of the south India,everyday at the door step using a plain white powder,as a symbolism of 'good luck 'and prosperity and it is said that the rangoli has a power to ward off the evil spirits and  purify the houses and welcome only the 'good'.In most parts of India ,'rangoli'is done with a lot of colors and decorations during a festival /function as a symbolism to  invite/welcome  the guests in a colorful way ,with a theme'athiti Devo bhava' /guests are  equivalent to god .Some important occasions like the Diwali,Laxmi pooja ,navratri or certain pooja/worships, have rangoli drawn near the god's room as ritual to welcome the god/goddess to the house to incorporate wealth /prosperity in the house and shower blessings on the house members.They also create various designs of god /goddess in the art form or also have some holy auspicious symbols like 'om','swastik','kalash','lighting lamp'etc during these occasions.A traditional house warming ceremony or 'ganesh homa'/sacrificial fire to god would have rangolis having some specific colors and designs created by the priest doing these ceremony.They also use grains,lentils ,pulses,glitters ,flowers and lamps to decorate and add a charm to the rangoli.

      Now ,the funniest part is that I do not know to draw a rangoli and my constant strenuous efforts have often been in vain!so what I do is, get some ready made mould designs, and splatter some powder over them with an intended pattern and at a jiffy, 'rangoli's are made!:)The one in the picture was my Gujarati neighbor's design for Diwali.good one right?

   

"PILI VESHA" TO HALLOWEEN

 Hailing from the coastal city of Mangalore,I have experienced one of the most diverse cultural and traditional traits with a lot of communities living together including Tulu,Kannada,Konkani,Christians,Malayalam.'Navaratri' festival season is filled with a lot of celebrations,and one of the main fascinating events in Mangalore is the "Pili vesha kunita"(tiger attire dance).Tulu community ,especially the "koraga "communities have specially trained dancers performing this interesting act and their dance group would include dancers and drummers playing the "chende" /traditional drum.The dancers paint their entire body with the character they want to portray (like the Tiger,Lion ,Bear ,Tribal man,Clown)and wear a mask suiting the character,and go dancing from door step to door step paying tribute to the goddess and also entertaining the people and earn a few bucks.They would continue dancing on the door step with the loud volume drum beats until the house owners would be  give them their reward.The dancers would range from age 5 to 60  and would dance rhythmically to the tunes of the "chende"and would exhibit their talents displaying all sorts of gymnastics and circus, leaping and bending their bodies in different angles and also showing the aggression and expressions of the Tiger.They would  have this dance form running in their veins and would be blended with their soul wile performing.As a kid, I remember me and my brother waiting for these dancers during the Navratri season and rushing out to the gates hearing the drum beats from a distance ,with a curiosity to see the costume they are dressed in. Some kids would wet their pants seeing them and I even remember my neighbor's daughter being scared by her mother saying"If you do not listen to me ,I will ask the' pili vesha' to come and carry you away".It was fun watching them dance.

      After so many years ,I remembered this dance form ;all credits to "Halloween"season.I could see some sort of similarities between both these forms.Halloween could be called "festival of ghosts".It was believed  many years ago that  the evil spirits would visit the houses on the night of "Halloween"(which is almost at the end of summer and harvest season)and would demand for food ,and the house owners would provide them with food and nuts .If the ghosts were dissatisfied ,then they would end up spying an evil cast at them and playing some sort of mischief.That attributes to the "trick or treat"which the kids practice these days.The kids dress up as tiny ghosts, devils ,witches or some sort of characters which they like ,and go from house to house demanding for a treat /or threaten to play a trick!Some believed that by dressing themselves as ghosts or witches ,they would mimic these evil spirits ,and could escape their tortures;that's where the concept of "disguise"started on Halloween day.The houses are decorated with pumpkins carved with niches which are lit with lamps.It was predicted that this would ward off the evil spirits entering the houses.Some houses are even decorated as "ghost houses/haunted houses"and have ghost/skeleton figures hanging on the patio.It was fun watching my kid participating in the Halloween parade along with all other tiny demons ,witches skeletons,fairies,robots,pilots doctors,and all sorts of characters.Today is "Halloween day"and I am waiting for the fun to night."Happy Halloween"to all those who celebrate.


P.S: HERE IS A VERY GOOD LINK OF THE "TIGER DANCE".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8wa4L7NZJM


These are the halloween pictures.

A peek into the tedious 41 days ritual of "shabarimala"

Shabarimala is the famous shrine located at the summits of western ghats surrounded by 18 hills of Kerala in pathanamthitta district in India.Millions of devotees visit this temple every year ,after following the strict 41 days "vrata" or customary ritual to have a glance of their favorite lord "Ayyappa"Some people who cannot observe this vrata for that duration,practise it for a minimum of 3 days to 1 week and visit the temple.It is considered that observing the 41 days vrata purifies the body and soul of the devotee and helps him achieve the heavenly abode ,by washing away the previous sins of the present and past incarnation. A strange customary practise of this temple is that ,only men visit this temple mostly and the girls before puberty or women who have crossed menopause.The logic behind this is related to a historical story.

Traditional attire of the devotees

          Let me highlight a few rules to be followed in the ritual :

• "Vrata "begins by wearing a holy garland of"rudraksha" beads ,which is delivered by the temple priest or guruswami.A person who wears this is considered to be a  strict bachelor /"sanyasi"/"or a "swami".
• Get up early in the morning  before sunrise and  have a bath with cold water and also in the evening before prayer.
• Do the regular prayers to lord "ayyapan" by having a 108 chants of lord ayyappa ,and perform the "aarthi" twice a day ,morning before sunrise and evening after sunset.If  possible visit temple of lord ayyappa.
• Eat only after your prayers in the morning.Food should be perfect vegetarian and also should contain rice only once a day/partial fasting. The food should not include the previous day items and also should be freshly prepared after a bath.Some people even observe fasting throughout the day and eat only at the end of the day.
• Strictly speaking some people do not shave or cut their hair/nails throughout the vrata period.
• The costume to be worn is a black /dark blue "mundu" /"dhoti"or approx 4 feet long cloth to be wrapped around the waist.and a black shawl to be worn over shoulders,with the holy "bhasma "or charcoal powder to be applied over forehead and arms. (but today we have short cuts for everything and people wear black pants and then wear a black shawl over the shirt )
• People do not wear footwear throughout the vrata period.
• Sleep should be least comforted ;they should be sleeping on bare floor or on a mat ,and not on a mattress.
• Sacrifice all wordly pleasures ,quit smoking ,alcohol ,tobacco.
• And most of all ,married people should remain perfect bachelors and maintain distance from woman or  have a sex free life during these day.
• Perform a pooja and "annadana"or food offering to people at the end of 41 day period.





The devotees dancing their tunes to devotional songs on the way to the temple .

Shabarimala premises

  These are the few rules which a person under"vrata "has to abide on..I learnt from my husband ,the reasons to follow these. In fact most of the traditional rituals have some logic behind them;and so is with shabarimala vratam.The black/dark blue robe is to signify that these people are following the" shabarimala vrata"and all unhygienic people /ladies having their menstrual cycles have to stay away from them,whilst the ritual followed would be disrupted. In the olden days and in fact even now many of the travellers take the strenuous approximately 48 km walk to the shrine ,which involves forests ,hills and terrains.A person cannot walk these tough path with his footwear on and would find it better to cover these routes bare footed;and additional to this ,it is also considered auspicious to walk barefooted .That is why a person prepares himself prior itself by walking barefooted during the "vrata "period.The stringent rules which they follow ;like bathing with cold water ,sleeping on the floor,fasting ,all these are done  to condition the body to the toughest of the situations during their walk to the shrine and make themselves " resistant "to all obstacles.The journey would take them 4 to 5 days and they would have to shelter themselves by either camping or taking shelter under forest tree houses;bathe in the river each day even under extremities of weather;availability of food is also unpredictable .This is how the tough rituals of the vratam originated and is actually a "preparatory test"for the real exam.Even today all these rituals are followed through generations ,and even though science and technology has advanced so much ,people still have to walk around 6 miles trekking all the way to the divine temple of shabarimala situated at the hill top, from the pampa river ,as there is no acess to vehicles till the temple door step.All these are considered heartfelt offering to god from our side and there have been no manipulations on these.

This is a mosque which the devotees visit on the way to shabarimala temple.(India which has Hinduism as a dominant religion ,portrays unity in diversity )

Grandma tales of "Bells and Pradakshina"

I always remember my grandma telling me some captivating  mythological stories and answering my unlimited questions realted to certain rituals .I felt like sharing these few views from my grandmom's excerpts.

We Hindus have a customary practice of ringing bells at temple. This custom is also followed at homes in the worship place /’pooja room’. Of the several logics behind this tradition, the most appropriate one would be to “awaken the god “.does that mean god is sleeping? Well, obviously the answer is “no”. We all are aware that god is omniscient and may not need to be woken up. But what the people believe is that, act of ringing a bell after our prayers, creates alertness and invokes attention of god towards us, and that our prayers have reached his ears. We also ring bells during an” arthi” pooja /worship of god. This also again signifies the same .Also some mythologies claim that these bells drive the evil spirits or any bad omen away .There has also been claims that ringing bells would drive away all the distractions of human mind and reassure their presence of mind during the prayer and creates a positve "aura".Aarthi is almost the concluding part of the worship and we want to make sure that lord has heard all our prayers.

‘Pradakshina’ -This is a customary practice of moving around the temple outer “ankana” or premise with the almighty as the centre point of “reference”. This signifies that lord is the “CENTER OF ORIGIN “, everything revolves round him; just like how the planets revolve around sun ,with sun as center. Our lives are associated with the lord’s blessings; our sorrows, our joys are related to him; he is the force behind all the drives. This ritual is a way of cannaughting gratitude to the lord. Also while revolving around the statue of god, with god at center; a communication is aroused between the person and lord through the positive vibes /energy channelized from god to us. We also circumambulate 3 times to ourselves in front of the lord; sometimes with a recital of a “mantra” that says”yaanikani cha papani ,janmantara kritani, taani kaani vinaashanti pradakshine padepade”.This “mantra” translates that whatever sins we have committed in our life and also in the previous lives,are washed awayor demolished by the repeated “pradakshina”.