Thursday, March 12, 2009

Hindu Family Festival

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Ted and Peg Hope, who have organized this trip, have been working with Arun, a travel agent in Dharamsala, for a number of years. This year Arun invited them to attend a family festival, and I was fortunate to be able to come along. The festival marked the fourth anniversary of the death of Arun's grandfather-in-law. In the Hindi faith in this part of India, this date is celebrated with a huge family gathering. Arun said that more than 900 people had gathered from all over northern India to celebrate. According to Arun, this four year marks some aspect of the movement of the spirit from one place to another, perhaps now ready for reincarnation. His English, although good, was not quite up to the task of explaining the complicated meaning behind the festival. The family, relative and friends gather for three days, telling stories, doing pujas (religious rituals), culminating in a feast. The feast was served in shifts, with first men, then us (the foreigners) and finally the women lining up on mats on the ground. We were given plates made from large leaves and servers came by and served first rice and then one delicious Indian dish after another.
Afterwards we spent time with Arun and his family in their home in the village. Arun, as a quite successful businessman, has a large compound where he, his wife and young son live with his wife's parents, three sisters and their families and assorted other relatives that I couldn't quite place in the family tree. They are building other homes around the large central courtyard, which has a commanding view of the Himalayan mountain range.

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