Posts Tagged ‘religion’
The Siolim Zagor in Goa is an all night festival of prayerful song, dance, stage performances and entertainment. Zagor is sanskrit for "Awakening" or staying awake. While zagors are performed all over Goa, what makes the Siolim zagor special is the coming together of two communities – Hindus and Catholics to celebrate together.
I shot the Siolim zagor this year as part of a film project by Alexander Henn.
You can be his follower or detractor but either way you have to admire him. When Sri Sri Ravi Shankar visited Goa, his followers came in thousands to catch a glimpse of the man they proclaim as god. To hear him speak words of wisdom, to touch his feet or simply to get a hold of a flower petal he touched, the atmosphere was charged with a good bit of frenzy.
Founder of the Art of Living foundation, one of the most affluent trusts in the world, he promotes breathing and meditation techniques that help calm the body and mind. The techniques are said to be beneficial for various ailments as well and has found a large number of takers across the globe – people who may not be religious minded at all.
However, where he excels is among those who proclaim him as god himself – “Guruji, gurudev, we love you!” they chant to which he responds, “I know you love me”
That’s Ravi Shankar!
Villagers commemorate the festival of Holi by walking across fire on the preceeding night. Preparations start in the morning with a large “holi” – a pile of logs set up before the village temple. In the evening, the menfolk walk up the adjoining hillock to the old cremation ground. Here they perform rituals to call on the village protectors (spirits) – the devchars. After some chanting and praying, two men suddenly fell to the ground, wriggling and turning. I’m told they were possessed by the devchar. A third man, appeared to be in two states of possession and non-possession. Villagers shouted at the devchar to manifest himself in the man. To which the spirit responded (through the man) that some village disputes were preventing the manifestation.
After a lot of heated discussions among the villagers, the three possessed men took the flame and ran down the hill and lit the “holy”. After this, they ran right through the entire village, torch in hand, ostensibly possessed. This is a ritual followed over centuries in many villages. How they manage to get the stamina to run through the village is remarkable.
In the wee hours, on the day of Holi, the embers of the holi bon-fire are spread out and the menfolk run across it, barefeet. They are then followed by even women and children. I acutally saw a woman, holding an infant, run barefeet across the fire. In most cases, there were no visible burn marks.
Later, the three possessed men sit before the temple and answer individual questions of the villagers. These include problems between neighbours, personal and family problems and even career issues. I’m told, people believe these questions are directly answered by the “protector” of the village.
This seems an interesting concept as far as unity and harmony in a village are concerned as this is one occasion where village disputes are addressed.
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