If you were in Northern India right now, you would see an unusual amount of orange color in the streets. Men (and some women and children) crowd roads and highways annually to fulfill a type of pilgrimage dedicated to the Hindu god, Shiva.
Not properly a pilgrimage but more of a journey (Kavad meaning the tent-like structure that is carried, Yatra meaning journey), hundreds of thousands of saffron-wearing devotees make the journey from their respective home cities to Northern India's holy cities of Rishikesh and Haridwar. The trek begins every year on the first day of sawan (monsoon) and lasts for about two weeks (this year's is July 16th-29th).
During the journey people carry kavads, elaborately decorated structures made of bamboo, many of which look like tents because they are so large in size. The kavad should not touch the ground at any point during the journey. Once the traveler has reached the Ganges river, he or she fills jugs with the river's water and places them at each end of the kavad, making it much heavier that it already was. Then the journey begins back to each person's respective home temple dedicated to Shiva. Some travel in groups, others alone.
Some devotees travel by train, bus, motorcycle, or bike, but most of them travel by foot, some also without shoes!
The most interesting part of this Yatra, for me, is that these travelers happen to be passing right through the city I live in! I don't know if its a good thing or a bad thing...maybe just more of an interesting thing. Along the journey there are many checkpoint areas where travelers can rest and find something to eat or drink provided by various temples. Many of these checkpoints are in our city. The not-so-awesome part about being a 'checkpoint' city is that many of our roads are blocked now so that the travelers can do their traveling in peace, making for very congested streets nowadays. Also, I constantly hear a voice on a loudspeaker directing traffic and travelers. Day and night, day and night.
Abhi and I went around the city trying to get some good footage of the orange-ness, here's what we got:
Not properly a pilgrimage but more of a journey (Kavad meaning the tent-like structure that is carried, Yatra meaning journey), hundreds of thousands of saffron-wearing devotees make the journey from their respective home cities to Northern India's holy cities of Rishikesh and Haridwar. The trek begins every year on the first day of sawan (monsoon) and lasts for about two weeks (this year's is July 16th-29th).
During the journey people carry kavads, elaborately decorated structures made of bamboo, many of which look like tents because they are so large in size. The kavad should not touch the ground at any point during the journey. Once the traveler has reached the Ganges river, he or she fills jugs with the river's water and places them at each end of the kavad, making it much heavier that it already was. Then the journey begins back to each person's respective home temple dedicated to Shiva. Some travel in groups, others alone.
Some devotees travel by train, bus, motorcycle, or bike, but most of them travel by foot, some also without shoes!
The most interesting part of this Yatra, for me, is that these travelers happen to be passing right through the city I live in! I don't know if its a good thing or a bad thing...maybe just more of an interesting thing. Along the journey there are many checkpoint areas where travelers can rest and find something to eat or drink provided by various temples. Many of these checkpoints are in our city. The not-so-awesome part about being a 'checkpoint' city is that many of our roads are blocked now so that the travelers can do their traveling in peace, making for very congested streets nowadays. Also, I constantly hear a voice on a loudspeaker directing traffic and travelers. Day and night, day and night.
Abhi and I went around the city trying to get some good footage of the orange-ness, here's what we got:
butt shot!
a pretty big kavad
This is a drive-by of one of the rest areas in our city.
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