A Hindu Experience

I am not particularly fond of this picture of myself, but I am modeling my new Hindu look. (o: After General Conference on Sunday, we went to BillyBob's* friends' home. He invited us to celebrate the Festival of 9 Nights. (I hope I remember all the details right - if not, I apologize, this was all new to me.) It was fun to talk with Satish and his wife for a while - I haven't seen them since they were first married when Angela was a baby. They are both from south India and had a traditional arranged marriage back at home. I love learning about other cultures, so it was fascinating to join them for this holiday they celebrate. . .

Here's a little synopsis I found on Google that explains better than I could, what the festival is. "Navratri is a festival of Hindus celebrated with devotion, love and fervour all over India. It is also called as Navratras. The mood of Navratri is very colourful & unique. It incorporates veneration along with commemoration by means of song and dance. Navratri basically means "Nine Nights" ("Nav" meaning nine and "Ratri" meaning nights). These nights are devoted to the reverence of Goddess Durga (Maa Durga) who exists in many forms and is the manifestation of the absolute energy that pervades the Universe. During these days and nights prayers are offered to Mother Goddess. For the devout these days are the sacrosanct for it is during these days when Goddess Durga takes a stock of her devotees and grants all blessings, removes ills and evils and ensures unproblematic life for her devotees."

One of the traditions during the festival, is to display small dolls and figurines that each family has collected over the years. The dolls are of different gods/goddesses and even set up scenes. Satish had a small set up that represented a village with crops, people, etc. Apparently, each family is supposed to add to their collection every year. It was neat to see the special room set aside for decorating with all of the figurines. Satish even made a staircase to put in the room to display each set of dolls. After we spend some time in the doll room, we got to enjoy some fabulous south Indian cuisine: samosas, which I've had before and love, and several other dishes that were totally new. I was so shocked and proud of Sarah and Natalie for trying several of the foods and even both having favorites! Yeah. That was a big step, especially for Sarah. At the end, I was offered a small dish that contained a red powder (a spice, but the name has left me) to put on my forehead. Satish said the women are always offered this when they enter a home during Navratri. (They travel from house to house to see each others doll displays.) The girls thought it was funny, but luckily didn't say so until we got to the car. They were so good and I think found it very interesting too. They especially liked the part when Satish gave them gifts to take home.

One of the things I didn't realize before was how much Hindus treasure life in every form - thus the vegetarianism. They make these beautiful "pictures"/designs using rice flour of different colors on the ground. The purpose is to feed and sustain even the ants. And I learned that these festivals and celebrations (apparently, Hindus have a LOT of them) are meant to strengthen communities and keep them interacting with one another. Even the tradition of buying a doll or dolls to add every year is to give those who make them continuing business. It is a very community driven religion, which I think is great. Something Mormons have in common. (o: I had a fun time and Satish was so nice, and I think excited, to share so much about his religion. We had a great time and when he sends me a picture he took of the girls with his display, I'll post it. I didn't bring my camera in at the last minute, just in case it was offensive to photograph their decorations.