13-03-2024
It has happened three times now: Early in the evening we're in our room, recuperating from the heat, cooling off in the comfortable temperature of the A/C, when we hear drums in the streets. We slip into our chappals and hurry outside! The first time, it was a short procession, almost past when we got onto the street. The sun had set and it was dark outside. streetlights and advertisements lighting the area. It was Phalguna Amavasya: No moon in the sky, the beginning of the new moon according to the western calender.
The next day, the procession was a lot longer. Drums and trumpets, ladies dressed in traditional Kerala sarees carying lights. Children throwing flowers and ricepuffs and all the way in teh back a small temple with a depiction of the god Shiva, decorated with flowers and fruits. It was 11 March and the Hindu's were celebrating Chandra Darshan, the celebration of the new visible moon.
The moongod Chandra is the god of the night, plants and growth. He is associated with knowledge, wisdom, virtue and good intentions. The waning and growing of the moon, is controlled by Shiva (one of the three major deities in Hindu religion: Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu). As each month has a new moon, this celebration occurs every month. There are 330 million gods in Hinduism, so you can take your pick of celebration every day.
The next day, we again heard drums and music, so we ran outside. It was still light this day. Actually, the evening rushhour was happening in the street. On the other side of the road we saw a parade of people and cars. In the first one, we saw a lady waving at the passers by. Her vehicle was followed by a collonne of women, carrying life-sized photo's of her. And the ones following them, wore t-shirts with her picture on it. There were mainly women on the parade. I can only applaude this female display of power.
We were lucky to find someone who explained to us what was going on. The lady was running for the Communist party of India in Kerala, for the upcoming elections. She was campaigning. To us, as down-to-earth Dutch, it seemed a bit over the top, being driven around and waving at the public. She looked like a queen, or the pope. But the fact that we, as foreigners, looked on, waved back and took photo's, was appreciated by her following. They even invited me to join them. Needless to say, I did not accept their invitation, not knowing how long it would take and where I'd end up.
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