Thursday, January 20, 2011

Thaipoosam Cavadee 2011

DSCN0012

Celebration of Thaipoosam Cavadee in Mauritius. Photos of the procession in Triolet.

 

DSCN9781

DSCN9800

That’s the first thing I saw… People “watering” the roads!

 

DSCN9814

DSCN9815

There really is no end to human stupidity. Wasting drinkable water while the country is facing its most severe drought of all time.

 

DSCN9788

It’s not as if arrangements haven’t been made… These lorries probably have had their water from Solitude lake.

 

DSCN9789

Coming back to the festival, that was the crowd awaiting the arrival of the procession….

 

DSCN9802

DSCN9809

With our fearsome policemen controlling the traffic. In the background, coconuts were being broken as part of the offerings.

 

DSCN9813

DSCN9817

DSCN9818

DSCN9834

Why blame the common man when even the Fire Services were taking part…

 

DSCN9838

DSCN9850

DSCN9875

The Lord Muruga chariot headed the procession, stopping every few metres to allow the devotees to offer their prayers.

 

DSCN9879

DSCN9882

DSCN9883

DSCN9885

DSCN9904

The devotees carrying their Cavadee – from a simple pot of milk to multi-coloured wood/bamboo constructions.

 

DSCN9914

DSCN9916

Another water-carrying tank tractor…

 

DSCN9924

DSCN9926

DSCN9930

DSCN9934

DSCN9941

DSCN9943

DSCN9944

DSCN9947

DSCN9953

DSCN9957

DSCN9961

DSCN9962

DSCN9964

DSCN9969

DSCN9974

All devotees are required at the minimum to spear their tongue & keep a vow of silence. The more the piercings, the more pain you endure & the greater you’ll reap.

 

DSCN9992

DSCN9994

DSCN0008

DSCN0018

Bed of nails. There’s also the much harder shoe of nails, which I didn’t notice this year.

 

DSCN0029

DSCN0032

DSCN0044

DSCN0045

DSCN0047

 

DSCN0053

DSCN0058

DSCN0065

DSCN0071

The skin-pulled chariot. & our water-wasters, still in action when the road has already been watered countless times…

 

DSCN0078

DSCN0077

DSCN0081

The lone man at the back as the procession moved on. Must have been tough for him…

 

Related:

7 comments

Cags

Thank you for sharing.

Yadhav

Awesome post and superb photos! It feels great to see everyone celebrating and participating in this festival.

On the water issue.
But would God be happier to see people saving water instead of wasting it just to please him? Reminds me of this story, http://content.msn.co.in/MSNContribute/Story.aspx?PageID=1cc563ed-8247-42c2-a272-b14177218753.
I hope that the whole of Mauritius didn't do the same thing. Otherwise, the level of water would have gone again really low.

Siganus Sutor

Funny, I said the same thing to myself when I saw the bowser spilling water on the road today. Didn't the "authorities" warn that people would be fined if seen wasting water? All this was being done in front of... the "Police Force", as it is sometimes called. They didn't seem to bother at all.

But "our fearsome policemen" can look very very fat. It would be hard for those to run after any thief or offender.

I had never seen the "bed-of-nails" thing before, which must be much rarer than the "savat koulou". And the guy pulling his little toy behind him is just great!

But, er, what about traffic through Triolet?

Yudz

nice photos.. thanks for sharing.

carrotmadman6

@Cags @Yudz
Thanks for your comments.


@Yadhav
The biggest religion in the world is humanity. When will people learn this?


@Siganus
As pointed out by Yashvin in his post, there's a loophole in the law.

No person shall without reasonable excuse, use any domestic supply or non domestic supply through a hosepipe, sprinkler or any similar apparatus, or in any wasteful manner
(a) To wash any vehicle
(b) To wash any pavement, building or part of any building
(c) To water any hedge or lawn


No mention of roads.

For the Triolet traffic, most of the vehicles were being diverted through the side streets. A by-pass road would have been very useful here...

Mike

Great photos it makes a nice visual report, good job.

Yanish

nice pics

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...