Monday, October 27, 2008

Festival of Lights


I arrived in Mysore on the main day of a five-day holiday, here, Diwali, or "Festival of Lights." The lights (including fireworks, part of the main way of celebrating) signify victory of good over the evil within every human being..." The holiday, falls over two days every October or November, depending on the lunar calendar, and is symbolic of "the homecoming of goodwill and faith after an absence."
As such, there are fireworks galore (the loud variety as much as the pretty), going off right and left outside my door, a surfeit of flower garlands on anything adornable and a general holiday feel....though of course, just getting here is reason to celebrate. My driver was waiting on schedule at the airport and promptly put in a Jackie Chan video once we hit the highway for the ride to Mysore. Somehow, watching g masters wrestle free The Monkey King in "The Forbidden Kingdom" as we honked and swerved our way south of Bangalore seemed apt. Happy to report that the highway was in much better repair than during my last visit, and my comfortable room at Chez Joseph was waiting for me in Gokulam. The holiday means I won't start yoga practice until Wednesday, but I've already met a few other students from all points around the globe (Brazil, DC and England thus far).

1 comment:

Sally said...

What a great celebration. Enjoy!