Yesterday was a festival-filled day here in Nepal, the main day of the Teej Festival. The Teej Festival is predominantly Hindu and is specifically for women. It involves feasting, fasting, ritual bathing, dancing and special blessings at the temples. The women dress up in all of their finery (typically red and gold), and pray for marital success and the longevity of their husbands as well as happiness and success for their children. The single women participate as well, typically praying for potential grooms. My roommate and I, with several other friends and Fulbrighters, walked to the Pashupatinath Temple, a large temple in Kathmandu that is the hubs of the festival as it is the largest temple dedicated to Shiva and the festival celebrates the union of Shiva and his partner.
On our way, we picked up Bindis (decoration worn on the forehead as a sign of respect in Hindu culture) to wear for the day, and have for future festivals. The sights were amazing. Tens of thousands of women waited in three lines that were each nearly a mile long to get into the temple (all in beautiful red outfits with parasols to block the sun). I later read that around 400,000 women entered the temple to pray yesterday. Other sights were the many vendors hawking wares along the street, people dancing to music, and people praying at a small Hindu temple near Pashupatinath. The entire area was crowded beyond belief, and there was a festive feeling in the air.
After the festival, my friends and I walked to an American-type restaurant in Kathmandu that has wonderful wood-fired pizzas and celebrated with dinner. Nearly collapsed as well – we’d been walking from 10:30am to 3:30pm! Swetha, Marissa and I walked back home afterwards, and decided to stop by a small park near our apartments because there was loud music and lots of dancing. We were curious, and figured we could get good pictures. Our plans were foiled (mine in particular!) when a Nepali lady grabbed my hand and pulled me into the dance area! She began to teach me the hand motions of Nepali dance, and then other ladies and girls grabbed my hands to dance with me (or more likely, to show me how!). Just as my friends and I had planned to take pictures, it turns out that I was a seriously photogenic subject for Nepalis while on the dance floor. They kept ushering me closer to the cameras and video cameras! Finally, Swetha and Marissa decided to join in on the fun, so the three of us were quite the spectacle. The whole situation was miles out of my comfort zone (I am NOT a dancer whatsoever!), but in retrospect I’m really glad I was able to join in and I ended up having a blast. It was just another example of how welcoming the people are here and how willing they are to help you become part of their culture.
I think from here on out it is safe to assume that there’s “still no luggage” but I’ll let you know if anything changes!
No comments:
Post a Comment