Dhenkanal RTI Master Training

Well my weekend was a blast! After having dinner and drinking too much wine with my flatmate on Friday night, I was up before 5am to meet Sujata to get a train at 6am that turned out to be at 6.45am. We then went to Dhenkanal which is a couple of hours away for a Master Trainer Program on RTI. What these guys do it train up people in the different villages to use the Right to Information Act and help their communities so they attend this two day course. Basically we sit around on the floor in a big circle (women on one side, men on the other) in a dusty decaying building and it is all spoken in Oriya. I was completely nodding off less than an hour into it so Sujata asked if I wanted to take rest and I said yes, after lunch. So after lunch I spent the entire afternoon lying on a sheet on a concrete floor in another room of this building reading Holy Cow and dozing. Sujata came in a couple of times to lay down and she curled up next to me and spooned. At other times people would come into the room and have meetings while I was sleeping. This is all quite normal for me now. We hung around in the evening to eat dinner at about 9pm then went back to the "office" where we all slept on the concrete floor. I did get a thin foam yoga mat to sleep on and had a pillow but no sheet over me this time. Sunday was a bit the same. I got up and went to Anu's sister in law's house where I could use the bathroom to shower and clean up. There they gave me some mango, pomegranite and biscuits then we headed to the hall for breakfast and it was the same all over again except that we didn't get back to the office until about 10.30pm last night then I had to talk to some guy for a while about his organisation but at 11pm I just couldn't do it any more. At 5.30am this morning Sujata woke me to tell me I need to get moving. I went to Anu's sister in law's house again but their water wasn't working so I went back to the hall to use the bathroom. At 7am we got the slow train that took three hours and I finally made it back to my apartment by about 10.45am where I could finally have a cigarette and be in my own space. So that was my weekend, how was yours?

A bit of mountain air

With work getting a little busy, I decided to take Pintu up on his offer and head down to the southern part of Orissa for a few days for a change of scenery.

The air is so much cooler and fresher down there and the scenery, lush mountains and hills and rice fields, it was a stunning vista all around (except for a few steel mills and the obligatory industrial sites that are a huge point of conflict in this state).

The plan was an overnight train down to Koraput, collect motorbike on arrival and cruise around the countryside for four days. That is exactly what we did, each day visiting different tribal markets. The markets were very much for the locals and some don't see any foreigners so there's not many trinkets to buy but the experience is wonderful and fascinating.

Each market visit started with a drink of local brew with the ladies who sell it in big silver pots. Unlike most other places in India, these women were quite amused by the foreigner having a little tipple, even encouraging it. Then we'd wander around, see what was on offer, maybe chat to a few people. If you leave it too late there are many drunks around, this is the weekly event of course and that local brew does pack a bit of a punch.

There's nothing quite like cruising around unknown lands on the back of a Honda Hero with a trusted friend as a guide. It was a very nice and relaxing few days and I can't wait to head back down there and go to some of the tribal villages next time.

Lord J

In a land with over 33 crore* gods, there is no shortage of deities to worship in India (*a crore is ten million).

One of the most prominent deities here in Orissa is Lord Jagganath (and family), whose temple is located in the nearby religious (and beach) town of Puri.

Lord Jagganath is considered an aspect of the god Vishnu or his avatar Krishna and worshipped as part of a triad along with Krishna's brother Balabhadra and his sister Subhadra. The 12th century temple of Jagannath in Puri is regarded as one of the Char Dam (four sacred Hindu pilgrimage places) in India.

Every year in mid-summer, Lord Jagannath, with his elder brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra, goes on vacation, travelling on grand chariots, from his temple in Puri, to his garden palace in the countryside. This belief of the Hindus has given rise to one of the biggest religious festivals in India — the Rath Yatra or the Chariot Festival. This is also the etymological origin of the English word 'Juggernaut'.

The festival begins with the Ratha Prathistha or invoking ceremony in the morning, but the Ratha Tana or chariot pulling is the most exciting part of the festival, which begins in the late afternoon when the chariots of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra start rolling.

  

This commemorates the annual journey of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balarama, and their sister Subhadra to their aunt' s temple, the Gundicha Temple which is situated at a distance of 2km from their temple. New chariots are built every year. This is the only day when devotees who are not allowed in the temple premises such as non-Hindus and foreigners, can get their glimpse of the deities. During the festival, devotees from all over the world go to Puri with an earnest desire to help pull Lords' chariot with the help of other priests pulling the chariots with ropes. They consider this a pious deed and risk their lives in the huge crowd. The huge processions accompanying the chariots play devotional songs with drums, tambourines, trumpets etc. Crowd estimates vary wildly but it would be fair to say that at least a million (and possibly several times that number) come to Puri during Rath Yatra each year.

Lord Jagganath is a god for the low caste people and during the festival, the low caste people become the kings of Puri. In fact, during Rath Yatra, the King of Puri has to climb each of the chariots and sweep the floors, becoming a low caste person.

My good friend Pintu who owns the guesthouse in Puri which has become my second home, organised tickets for us on a balcony right outside Jagganath Temple where we could witness all of the proceedings away from the unbelievable crowd.

We were woken just after 4.30am to get ready to head down there. Many streets are blocked off and the crowds become just too heavy to get through the streets if you leave it too late. 

I still haven't been able to find the words to tell you about the experience of Rath Yatra. 

From the moment I arrived in Puri on Saturday and climbed on the back of Pintu's bike, I felt a change in the air in Puri. We spent some time cruising through town to organise tickets and pick up beer and various other things and the energy and excitement I could feel as we rode around town gave me goosebumps.

Again on Monday morning Pintu woke me early and we went down to Grand Road at about 6am in the morning drizzle to witness the pilgrims lining up to board the chariots. We walked through the area and lit a candle and I touched Jagganath and Subhadra's chariots.

Puri is a wonderful and interesting place and to be part of Rath Yatra, a centuries old ritual, is a privilege and has provided me now with memories I won't ever forget.