I know it's been a while since I've updated, but I'm glad I am finally getting a chance to check in! We've been in the classroom everyday, teaching our art lessons and they are going wonderfully. The summer camp just started today, and we have a group of about 15-20 kids who come regularly to participate in art and photograpy lessons. We're really excited to get to work closely with such a small group, and we have prepared many lesson plans and projects for the class. We are doing a small festival at the end of July before we leave to showcase all their projects, once we have more details on that we'll share with everyone! When we're not working hard in the classroom or planning vigorously for the next day, we've gotten to explore a little, and it's all been amazing!
Ambubachi Mela – our first Hindu celebration. Last week our new friend, Suman (a Guwahati native) told us about a giant Mela at the Kamakhya Temple just 15 minutes down the road in Guwahati. Ambubachi Mela is celebrated yearly during the monsoon season, usually around the middle of June. It’s the celebration of the goddess Kamakhya (the Goddess of Power), and her yearly menstruation cycle. It’s also believed at this time the creative and nurturing power of the Mother Earth becomes accessible and abundant to all that gather at this temple during the Mela. Every year, thousands of devotees, Pilgrims, and Sadhus come to the Kamakhya Temple to celebrate and observe the 6 day festival. (To those who don’t know, a Sadhu, which translates into “Good Man”, lives an ascetic life. They dedicate their being to achieving moksa through mediation and thought of Brahman, the highest reality in Hinduism. Sadhus usually wear brightly colored clothing, beads, and have massive dreads. Coming to India, it was on our bucket list to meet a Sadhu and we were pretty excited to see what was in store for us!) So Sunday we packed the camera and headed into the city to check it out with Suman and his friend Aditya. We had no idea what to expect, but we knew it’d be an adventure for sure.The ride up to the festival was one for the books. The roads were closed for the Mela, so we had to take a golf-cart type thing up the mountain. We had 7 people packed in, plus the driver and passanger driver. The ride up was similar to a roller coaster. Fast turns, hard breaks, swerving. People kept trying to stop our cart and hop in, despite the fact there was literally no room left. At one point they even let one guy in, and the second driver was just hanging out the side! The roads are unbelievably hectic; we saw a bus packed with people practically run over some guy and his little rickshaw. But we made it safely to the top (thank Shiva), and hopped off the cart. Bare-footed and wet from the rain, into the world of Ambubachi Mela we went.Vivid colors and burning incense invaded our eyes and noses. Hand-made jewelry hung from tents, glittering in the temple light. There were beggars tapping us on the shoulders, people peeing on the side of the street, people blowing whistles, praying, singing, and playing drums and music. Swarms of crowds and people overloaded the streets. Saris and Bindi filled our field of vision. Hindi was being shouted over the large overhead speakers, and everyone was barefoot. To our excitement, Sadhus were scattered everywhere; meditating, smoking, and praying. The energy was implausible and infectious. We were on total sensory overload, and we loved it.The temple was more like a courtyard, with many smaller temples scattered about it. The biggest one was in the center, and had a large dome shaped top. Devotees would walk up to the temple and put their hand to it while praying. On one side, there is a small red Ganesha shrine that devotees try to stick a coin on. If the coin sticks after only one try, one makes a wish to the God. So we tried it out, and mine stuck! I made a wish to Ganesha (our favorite Hindu God thus far) and we placed Bindi (the red dots on the third-eye) on each other from the foot of the Ganesha shrine.Our family of 5 continued to navigate through the sea of colors and people. We stopped to talk to some Sadhus; they were so welcoming. We sat with them, and they tied a knot around our wrists and arms. In Hinduism, a tied knot is supposed to protect you from all that is bad. This specific knot, however, is supposedly cut from the cloth of the Goddess Kamakhya, so it also gives us power and strength. As the Sadhus tied the knots, they blessed us by reciting some sort of Hindu prayer, although sadly we were unable to translate it. We were blessed by several people actually, all in different ways. Some women came up to us and placed Bindi on our foreheads as they too blessed us. We smiled, folded our hands and said “Namaste.” Since most people at the Mela only spoke Assamese or Hindi, this was the best and easiest way to communicate our gratitude and respect.There are two things that are certain when we go out in public; we will be followed by a swarm of locals taking photos of us, and we will be interviewed by the media. We felt pretty bad for Suman and Aditya because it can get a bit overwhelming being constantly surrounded by people with cameras in your face. But they were sort of like our body guards, and I don’t think we would have been able to steer our way through the celebration without them. We’re so happy we found them; they’re a great addition!Our video blog will have a little more detail about what we did, so I'll try and post that as soon as it's edited. The pictures, mostly taken by LeeAnne Steers, will definitely take your breath away. It was an incredible experience, absolutely one that we never thought we’d be so lucky to have.And more recently, we had the opportunity to wear traditional Karbi tribe dress! The first Assamese men to climb Mt. Everest came to the school, so there was a small celebration which we dressed up for. The women had to help us put it on, and help us keep it properly on the whole day. They did our hair, gave us Bindi, and we had such a great time! The dress was beautiful, and we decided we must get one for ourselves to represent Assam back in the states!
Ambubachi Mela – our first Hindu celebration. Last week our new friend, Suman (a Guwahati native) told us about a giant Mela at the Kamakhya Temple just 15 minutes down the road in Guwahati. Ambubachi Mela is celebrated yearly during the monsoon season, usually around the middle of June. It’s the celebration of the goddess Kamakhya (the Goddess of Power), and her yearly menstruation cycle. It’s also believed at this time the creative and nurturing power of the Mother Earth becomes accessible and abundant to all that gather at this temple during the Mela. Every year, thousands of devotees, Pilgrims, and Sadhus come to the Kamakhya Temple to celebrate and observe the 6 day festival. (To those who don’t know, a Sadhu, which translates into “Good Man”, lives an ascetic life. They dedicate their being to achieving moksa through mediation and thought of Brahman, the highest reality in Hinduism. Sadhus usually wear brightly colored clothing, beads, and have massive dreads. Coming to India, it was on our bucket list to meet a Sadhu and we were pretty excited to see what was in store for us!) So Sunday we packed the camera and headed into the city to check it out with Suman and his friend Aditya. We had no idea what to expect, but we knew it’d be an adventure for sure.The ride up to the festival was one for the books. The roads were closed for the Mela, so we had to take a golf-cart type thing up the mountain. We had 7 people packed in, plus the driver and passanger driver. The ride up was similar to a roller coaster. Fast turns, hard breaks, swerving. People kept trying to stop our cart and hop in, despite the fact there was literally no room left. At one point they even let one guy in, and the second driver was just hanging out the side! The roads are unbelievably hectic; we saw a bus packed with people practically run over some guy and his little rickshaw. But we made it safely to the top (thank Shiva), and hopped off the cart. Bare-footed and wet from the rain, into the world of Ambubachi Mela we went.Vivid colors and burning incense invaded our eyes and noses. Hand-made jewelry hung from tents, glittering in the temple light. There were beggars tapping us on the shoulders, people peeing on the side of the street, people blowing whistles, praying, singing, and playing drums and music. Swarms of crowds and people overloaded the streets. Saris and Bindi filled our field of vision. Hindi was being shouted over the large overhead speakers, and everyone was barefoot. To our excitement, Sadhus were scattered everywhere; meditating, smoking, and praying. The energy was implausible and infectious. We were on total sensory overload, and we loved it.The temple was more like a courtyard, with many smaller temples scattered about it. The biggest one was in the center, and had a large dome shaped top. Devotees would walk up to the temple and put their hand to it while praying. On one side, there is a small red Ganesha shrine that devotees try to stick a coin on. If the coin sticks after only one try, one makes a wish to the God. So we tried it out, and mine stuck! I made a wish to Ganesha (our favorite Hindu God thus far) and we placed Bindi (the red dots on the third-eye) on each other from the foot of the Ganesha shrine.Our family of 5 continued to navigate through the sea of colors and people. We stopped to talk to some Sadhus; they were so welcoming. We sat with them, and they tied a knot around our wrists and arms. In Hinduism, a tied knot is supposed to protect you from all that is bad. This specific knot, however, is supposedly cut from the cloth of the Goddess Kamakhya, so it also gives us power and strength. As the Sadhus tied the knots, they blessed us by reciting some sort of Hindu prayer, although sadly we were unable to translate it. We were blessed by several people actually, all in different ways. Some women came up to us and placed Bindi on our foreheads as they too blessed us. We smiled, folded our hands and said “Namaste.” Since most people at the Mela only spoke Assamese or Hindi, this was the best and easiest way to communicate our gratitude and respect.There are two things that are certain when we go out in public; we will be followed by a swarm of locals taking photos of us, and we will be interviewed by the media. We felt pretty bad for Suman and Aditya because it can get a bit overwhelming being constantly surrounded by people with cameras in your face. But they were sort of like our body guards, and I don’t think we would have been able to steer our way through the celebration without them. We’re so happy we found them; they’re a great addition!Our video blog will have a little more detail about what we did, so I'll try and post that as soon as it's edited. The pictures, mostly taken by LeeAnne Steers, will definitely take your breath away. It was an incredible experience, absolutely one that we never thought we’d be so lucky to have.And more recently, we had the opportunity to wear traditional Karbi tribe dress! The first Assamese men to climb Mt. Everest came to the school, so there was a small celebration which we dressed up for. The women had to help us put it on, and help us keep it properly on the whole day. They did our hair, gave us Bindi, and we had such a great time! The dress was beautiful, and we decided we must get one for ourselves to represent Assam back in the states!
To check out photos from Mela and us dressed up, check out our personal blog! We have the chance to update it more often. http://bridging--the--gap.tumblr.com/
Overall, India is going wonderfully, and Parijat Academy has been lovely. It's ben officially a month since we've been here, and about a month until we leave. We're already sad to go! I'll write again soon, Namaste
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