Religious Functions

6 April

My god. I just watched the villagers install a new temple for their god in Kharongcha. In honor of the occasion, they made offerings to their god: milk (dhood), sweet cereal (haluwa) and GOAT! Earlier, Pritham mentioned with excitement that they would be eating "mutton" for dinner, but I didn't connect...until I saw a boy holding a ram firmly near the temple. My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.


The new temple, the smallest I've seen in any of the villages.

In the late afternoon, Pritham and I met in my room to discuss the schedule of our next visit to the park. Suddenly, his back stiffened and he said, "My god has come!" Outside we heard trumpets announcing the arrival of Kharongcha's deity statue, which men carry on poles from village to village. I decided to watch, although I hadn't been invited.


The arrival of the deity is accompanied by music.

From my window on the second floor, I noticed that only men and boys stood around the temple. Not wanting to offend custom, I wandered over to the village square, where I hoped to find Bimla. Good thing I did, because all the women were huddled behind a house, holding flowers and coyly watching the men work. A 21-year old told visiting for the function, told me in English that only men were allowed to perform the initial offering. I stood with the women, happy to be included in the festivities. As the women posed for a photograph, the men yelled something and they scattered before I could click the button. The women seemed jumpy and nervous, as if they themselves were uncertain as to their role in the puja.

Several boys approached the women with bowels of prasad (sweet cereal offering), of which they heaped several scoops into my hands. I ate it thankfully, content to finally eat something sweet in comparison to the salty lentils I am usually served. When my hands were empty, again they filled them, and again, until I had to refuse for fear of vomiting from too much food. The women laughed at how overwhelmed I was at the amount of prasad they gave me. The villagers had made so much prasad that eventually they threw it to the dogs.

Then the women scattered and the men marched over, carrying the deity on 2 wooden poles, with one man at each end. A boy blew a golden curved trumpet to announce the deity. They passed the village towards the river, then circled back until they finally rested the statue on a cement block in the center of the village.


The diety packed up and ready to move to another village.

Four women in traditional dress (a long, thick blanket-like dress tied with a sash at the waist) lined up with trays of nuts, corn, money and flowers, and bowls of smoldering embers. The men lifted the deity and leaned it over so the women could place their offerings on the statue.

Then chaos reigned. The men threw nuts into the sky and everyone scrambled to gather them, crushing the walnut shells with stones. A 19-year old boy who had spoken English to me earlier rushed back and forth to me, delivering me shelled nuts and then, when I stood helpless with hands full of nuts, cracking them and yelling, "Eat!" He also gave me a marigold, bright orange.

After the nut shower had finished, I stood on the edge of the crowd, waiting for the next festivity to begin. Pritham emerged from the crowd and said, as he often did throughout my stay, "Now you rest." It was his signal that I should leave. So I did, walking alone along the village path into the darkness, climbing the creaking stairs to my room, and sitting down on my bed, reflecting on all I had just observed.