Country Side – II

Kaavadi and Thiruvizha…. These are the annual celebrations in rural Tamil Nadu. The time when families assemble together in their native villages.  Ancestral homes are cleaned, villages over flow with crowd,  celebrations last for two or three days with a religious fervour.

My native village is two hours journey from Coimbatore. This is the village from where our ancestors migrated to cities in search of livelihood.  These are a few photos from the Kavadi festival in the past few years.

First day’s function starts at the village temple…

Village temple

Second day mornings are spent in travelling to the river bank where river water is collected in small containers… These containers are sealed with banana leaves and colourful cotton fabrics.

River bank

Second day afternoon is travel back to the village, where prayers are offered to the collected river water.

River Water in containers

Third day is the grand celebration in the hill temple of Palani. The collected river water is  dedicated to the Gods in this temple, as a thanksgiving offering from the village.

Entrance to temple

This is the native tamil way of thanking Nature and the Gods for all blessings bestowed on our families, our village and farmlands there.

 More photos…,

of people…

               

selling flowers by the riverside.

 

                                                            

Clown, to amuse kids

 

of festive colours…

 

thoranam (decorative hanging)

Flowers

 

and smiles

 

To view part 1 of the Country Side series, please click here.

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