There is an ancient ritual called Shiva Ratri, usually around the beginning of March. It is a lunar calendar event. Thousands of pilgrims come to Haridwar to the most sacred Ganga place for the Hindus, HarikiPauri. They collect the water from the river. Then they return to temples in their villages and cities – walking. Some are even barefoot for the march. You can see by the photos that it is a nightmare for any vehicles to get anywhere on these roads and it is also dangerous for the water carriers. In the last few years we have seen women join them which was unheard of before. This has been a hard year for them with such cold and rainy weather. Today the sun shines, what a gift.
The unfortunate changes in this ritual now are the banks of loud speakers loaded on trucks and trolleys to accompany the march. It has some value in keeping their spirits up and protecting them, by keeping the elephants and other wild animals away during the night march. The water carriers, bom bolos, march straight through day and night and there are thousands of them. But the music blasting from the loud speakers is not even traditional or spirit based, it is a deep bass pumping with techno drums and soooooooo loud. It is like a bad bar scene where the music is so loud and so bad and the sound system is even worse. I think they are likely deaf when they get home because they are just behind or in front of the speakers and the speakers are loaded so every direction is covered. And from my room, even with good earplugs it is beyond loud.
It has been impossible to sleep through the nights because we are close to the road. The building and the windows shake, and they also blow their horns and beat on drums. It’s like having an all night party outside my window, in fact, it feels like it is in my room. Tonight is the last night before the ceremony so they will disappear into the distance with a few stragglers making it home late. I used to love this time, the water carriers would have bells on and chant Shiva bhajans as they were walking. It was so beautiful, you could feel the devotion and depth of it all. They would emerge out of the dawn and dusk, it felt timeless. There was a deep connection with the tradition and sacredness of the practice.
Tomorrow we take the kids to the back Ganga, it is the river flowing through the farmland here on its way to Haridwar and on south. It is in nature and we are usually the only ones there. I like to walk there often. We have our Ganga bathing, mostly it is playing with the kids in the water and jumping around with the little ones. Thank heaven it is starting to warm up. Then we will have a special puja, ceremony and everyone will dress up and special food is served. And of course, it is a holiday. So many festivals in India, it’s a wonder how they get the curriculum covered. But – ahhhh India, there is nothing else like it!!
