We came upon a wedding at a temple on our way to the snake temple. It was a midmorning break from the canals, the canoes, the ayurvedic massages and the black tea. We (an Italian traveller and myself) got there as the bride and groom were being arrayed with differing combinations of parents, siblings, cousins for the videographer. The bride's hair was full of flowers, white flowers, trailing down the back of her red sari, her gold bracelets, necklaces, hip necklaces, anklets, earings, shining brightly. The stone gods at the snake temple also bore the color of gold, but it was offerings of tumeric poured over each of them. Thousands of statues of shiva being protected by the snake, sometimes just the cobras themselves. They represent donations by persons cured of snake bite by doing puja at the temple or from women whose barreness was ended by a pilgrimage.Sunday, April 1, 2007
Colors
We came upon a wedding at a temple on our way to the snake temple. It was a midmorning break from the canals, the canoes, the ayurvedic massages and the black tea. We (an Italian traveller and myself) got there as the bride and groom were being arrayed with differing combinations of parents, siblings, cousins for the videographer. The bride's hair was full of flowers, white flowers, trailing down the back of her red sari, her gold bracelets, necklaces, hip necklaces, anklets, earings, shining brightly. The stone gods at the snake temple also bore the color of gold, but it was offerings of tumeric poured over each of them. Thousands of statues of shiva being protected by the snake, sometimes just the cobras themselves. They represent donations by persons cured of snake bite by doing puja at the temple or from women whose barreness was ended by a pilgrimage.
