Ermida do Senhor da Pedra at Aguda

Two train journeys from Aveiro and we were at Aguda. Delfim , our professor had invited us for lunch and what a beautiful lunch it was. His house right on the beach has a garden full of beautiful roses, lovely ramblers which smell delicious, nothing of those artificial insipid hybrids. These are the La France and Cardinal which grew in my grandmother’s garden.

A good lunch, a nap would have been just right but Prof. Delfim being an outdoors person decided a walk would do us good; we were to visit the Ermida do Senhor da Pedra which is commemorated in the Cantiga de São Simeão, a canto which dates back centuries and speaks of a damsel waiting for her lover, waits and waits and ultimately is drowned by the waves of the incoming tide…..

 
Sentada na ermida de São Simeão
Cercaram-me as ondas, que grandes são!
Eu atendendo o meu amigo!
Eu atendendo o meu amigo!

Não tenho barqueiro nem armador
Morrerei formosa no mar maior!
Eu atendendo o meu amigo!
Eu atendendo o meu amigo!

This long trek was on the shore, the sea rough, the wild wind blowing sand playfully, the sea crashes angrily on the rocks, and the rocks shelter the visitors. Parents sleep whilst little children play the age old game of building sand castles. The trek would have been rough had there not been board walks that stretch for miles, that really makes the trek easy and gave us plenty of time to admire the dune parks. That was something new for me, all manner of weeds and tiny plants allowed to live in peace, nobody tramples them. Somebody mentioned dune treks, lovely.

The small chapel, Ermida do Senhor da Pedra, is built on rocks centuries ago and many say it was built on  a Celtic site of worship. The Ermida is truly surrounded by a very angry sea and the damsels lament can be heard as the sea rises higher and higher.

Inside the chapel has a well decorated altar with a Christ crucified but why is the entire altar bathed in an eerie green light? I am still wondering

On the way back we took a road away from the shore, on the banks of a tiny rivulet, so clean, so fresh. Great care has been taken to train the river into tiny waterfalls, weeds growing and flowering plants completes the serene picture.

The Boardwalk allows a comfortable trek.
Courtesy. Claro Oliveira

Ermida do Senhor da Pedra; Courtesy Joao Paulo Coutinho

Capela do Sr. da Pedra courtesy Joaquim Oliveira

Festival of Lord Ganesha at Pune

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Ganesha or Ganapati is the most beloved of the Gods, particularly in Maharashtra and the Konkan. His arrival is awaited with great excitement and love.  Mandals or the places where He will installed for worship are lovingly created days in advance.

In Pune, if you would go down the Laxmi Road on the morning on the First day of the Festival, the excitement, the anticipation, and the love for Lord Ganapati is palpable. Families haggling over the price of the idol, little children all dressed up for the occasion, tiny shops full of the fruit and vegetables required for the canopy. You see above the place where the Lord Ganapati is to be placed a canopy of fruits, vegetables and herbs is erected. Ganapati after all comes after the heavy monsoons, when the earth is green and clean, full of fruits and vegetables. Lord Ganapati is taken ‘home’ with his eyes covered so that when he opens his eyes he will see the family members first and will bestow his blessings and his love on them

Although Ganapati is a festival for families, Lokmanya Tilak got the public involved so that Hindu customs and traditions could be honoured and respected, so Ganapati is also a community festival. Massive Ganapati idols are installed on practically every street corner. Mandals, the dais where the Lord rests, are theme based and take at least a month to build.

Pune has its own traditions. It has five Ganeshas - Ganapatis, which are the oldest and the most honoured. These massive idols have first preference during the Immersion or Visarjan. It is only after these five are immersed that the other Idols can be immersed.

First Ganpati of Honor in Pune. ‘Kasba Ganpati’
Established In 1893 Kasba Peth, Pune.
This Ganesha has the honour of being the first idol in entire Pune to be immersed before any other idol. This honour dates back to 1894.
An idol of Lord Ganapati was found near the house of Shri Vinayak Thakar, in its honour he then built a beautiful temple and this is the 'GramDaivat' of Pune Shri Kasba Ganpati. 

Second Ganpati of Honor in Pune. ‘Tambdi Jogeshwari’
Established In 1893, Budhwar Peth,Pune .
This Ganapati has historical significance as being one of the Ganapatis which Lokmanya Tilak started in connection with social uprising. This mandal completes more than a century. The idol of Lord Ganesa is unique in that Lord Ganesha resembles an African elephant and not an Indian one

Third Ganpati of Honor in Pune. ‘Guruji Talim;’
Established In 1887, Ganpati Chowk, Laxmi Road , Pune
This mandal can be considered to be the oldest in Pune, and has celebrated its centenary. It was established in 1887 even before Lokmanya Tilak started this festival. It was established as a symbol of Hindu Muslim unity.

Fourth Ganpati of Honor in Pune. ‘Tulsibaug’
Established In 1901, Tulshi Baug Ram Mandir, Pune..
This is the oldest and famous Ganesh mandal in Pune, and is known for the size of its Ganesh idol. This is the first mandal to have a fibre glass idol of Ganapati. Every year a new 15 feet high idol is created by Mr.D.S.Khataokar.

               Fifth Ganpati of Honor in Pune. ‘Kesariwada’

               Established In 1893 Narayanpeth Tilakwada, Pune.

               Lokmanya Tilak established this idol in the year 1893. This mandal is known for taking up

               social and cultural trends of society. During the festival shows of renowned artists,

              speeches of great personalities as well as  various activities and competitions for children

              and women are organised

        Although not one of the Ganapatis of Honour, the Ganapati of the Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Sarvajanik  Ganpati Trust, is a great favourite as well as the grandest of the Ganapati Mandals in Pune. It was established in the year 1893 and has completed a century.

Surely you do not expect Lord Ganapati to be brought to his temporary residence on a beautiful Mandal with no fanfare. Oh no! We followed his journey on Jangli Maharaj Road, Pune. Lord Ganapati installed on a trailer very beautifully decorated with marigolds proceeded slowly down the road. In front of the truck was a company of professional drummers, the beat given by the small drums was taken by the huge drums, this was relayed to the massive cymbals wheeled on their stands, heading the procession dancers in white and saffron did an intricate dance with a huge steel pole. The most amazing part was that the drummers as well as the dancers had a great many slim girls. How did those girls swing those massive drums was amazing. Maybe the kind eyed Ganapati smiled their way. He must have. 

Ganapati of the Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Sarvajanik  Ganpati Trust

 Inputs: http://www.binscorner.com

The Drummers accompanying Lord Ganapati to his temporary abode. The girls look amazing

Its raining men, Kathakali, dance drama from Kerala

Its raining men....

Scenes from Kathakali, dance drama from Kerala

The very elaborate costume

Kathakali....dance drama from Kerala

Kathakali is the most well known dance drama from Kerala and it means "Story-Play" or more literally a story narrated in the form of play and is characterised by its elaborate makeup and costumes. 

The themes of Kathakali are religious, mostly mythological in nature and taken from the Mahabarat and the Ramayana the two epics in India, the text is generally Sanskritised Malayalam.
Kathakali is generally performed in villages by the light of lamps and as expected is a major social event, generally starting at dusk and progressing through out the night.  Kathakali is usually performed only by men.  Female characters are portrayed by men dressed in women's costume. 
What characterises Kathakali  from any other dance form is the very elaborate makeup, it is so elaborate that it is more like a mask than makeup in the usual sense. The materials that comprise the makeup are all locally available, the white from rice flour, the red from vermilion (a red earth such as cinnabar) and the black from soot.  The colours are not merely decoration, but are also a means of portraying characters.  For instance, red on the feet is used to symbolise evil character and evil intent.
The costumes too are distinctive and characteristic of Kathakal, they are very elaborate and very heavy. There are several kinds of costume and these can be characterised as follows, Sathwika (the hero), Kathi (the villain), Minukku (females), and Thatti. Each character is instantly recognisable by their characteristic makeup and costume.

MEC (Maria Elena Cuadra) providing a better future for women in Nicaragua

Cividep had a session of an interchange of Ideas; four women from Nicaragua who belonged to the Union MEC (Maria Elena Cuadra) came to Bangalore for interaction with the Garment and Textile Workers Union. The focus was of course the Rights of Women in the workplace as well as other problems dealing with different aspects of a Woman’s life.

This time I had a great deal of time to interact with the Nicaraguans on a personal basis. The four women were totally different from each other but their problems similar. One in particular, Teresa, astounded me, her grit and determination to get out of the slums, educate herself all this when she has four small children and one of those children was a child with special needs .

Nicaragua a Catholic country prohibits legalized abortion but allows Family planning by other methods. As they do not get proper education about these other Methods of Family Planning, their only recourse is Abortion which of course is prohibited. The slums are full of pregnant teenagers and orphans. On discussion with the Garment Workers here in Bangalore the Nicaraguans  realized how women who have the same life style as they do, the same wages as they have- did I ever know that Garment Workers work for around 2.5$ Dollars a day around 106.00 Rupees a day? -managed to have only 2 children because they planned their families so very carefully and hardly had any abortions.

They also realized that 61% of Garment Workers in Bangalore were single mothers bringing up their children single handed just like in Nicaragua, some of course have help from their extended families and those who did not, managed it somehow.

A concept in India called Self Help Groups (SHG) teaches Women a great deal about Finance. This is a simple process; a group of women consisting of maybe 20 or more members form a group. They then collect a sum of Rs.100/- per month from each member. An account is opened in a Bank and when required, Micro loans are given at a nominal rate of interest of 2%. This is very low as compared to the high interest rates at the banks.

Life for Women Garment Workers is difficult, long hours of work sometimes with no overtime, abuse from the employers, many a times sexual abuse. Hardly any leave and if you do not belong to any Union you can be asked to leave at any time.

Each group of women had their own surprises, the Nicaraguans were appalled at the concept of Dowry, they felt women were sold as objects to the highest bidder, a mere commodity. The poverty of the Nicaraguans appalled our Indian women; a staple diet of beans, rice and a small bit of cheese is all they can afford at the moment, food prices in Nicaragua are so high that meat of any type is a luxury and a very distant dream.

In Nicaragua women battled long and hard for Equal Wages for Men and Women, in this age of Globalisation with techies earning millions and not knowing what to do with their money are we aware that there are women like Teresa, Connie, Yashoda and Hema who budget so hard and have to think of every penny they spend?