Why row over Mother Mary’s tribal avatar?

Virgin Mary has been shown in a new type of tribal avatar at Singhpur village in Dhurwa (Jharkhand, India) in the form of a statue and this has sparked a major controversy as from the local tribals. The move is taken as an attempt to cause division between the local christians and non-christians. The apparel of Virgin Mary shown in the statue is that of a tribal woman in a saree with red ribbon, a locally popular dress code for tribal women. The allegation is that 100 years from now this shall be mystiquely taken as the real version of Virgin Mary as against how she has been seen in the pictures for centuries. The local tribals allege that this has been done deliberately to win over a certain section of local people in view of the coming elections the next year. Personally speaking, I hold a view that such a practice is highly unfair and is vulnerably capable of distorting the real image of Virgin Mary with the very grace part of it missing when transformed in to a different mode of a picture. Unfortunately, in the country like India such a practice is an age old one where different Gods and Goddesses are picturised in tune with the local traditions and culture. They are highly fair complexioned ones in North India as against South India where they are painted as pitch black resembling the colour of humans there. This is how the God varies in colour and complexion from one location to another. If Gods and Goddesses  are there, they have  to be venerably worshipped in one unique shape and form without tarnishing their very look and grace. Such a practice in fact warrants an arrest and a total ban.

Technorati Tags: northindia,southindia,tribals,jharkhand,christians,nonchristians,elections

Anarchy in the name of rituals:

The holy city of Varanasi and the ghats on the bank of the sacred river Ganges (Ganga) are no more that holy a place as they used to be in the past traditionally since ages where people from all over the country, nay all over the world, used to congregate and take a dip in the waters of the river with the belief that this acted as a vital source to absolve themselves of whatever sins they  might have committed in their life. They did so also with the conviction that the type of such a bath coupled with certain rituals in the form of a puja (worship) was a sure way of going to heaven when they die. Such a puja used to be and is still performed on their behalf by the local priests who practically behave more as gangsters than the real holy men. These priests have their own prescribed rates for each ritual and the worshippers are forced to pay them exorbitantly failing which the worshippers have to face their wrath and curse in most crude a form. The most surprising phenomenon is that even in the present day world of ultra modern culture at the level of the society there are people who can’t afford disregarding the dictates of the priests for the fear that this may annoy the so called god men to the detriment of their future births. Such a false belief on the part of the devotees is not only highly ironical it is in fact a grave tragedy which they suffer from for no logical a reason. Only the other day I saw some of the priests on the bank of the Ganga at Varanasi well clad in jeans and multi coloured shirt practicing the puja on behalf of their customers/ devotees as if they were enjoying some picture in a cinema hall and had nothing to do with their traditional dress of dhoti/ kurta with a vermilion mark on their forehead. It is difficult to comprehend as to why the people should pose their faith in the god men so blindly. What the priests practice and the way they do it in the name of rituals is an act criminal in nature and in fact the devotees themselves are a party to such a crime by voluntarily succumbing to pressure tactics of the god men. Wake up India, wake up.

Link:Entity of God(s)

Technorati Tags: falsefaith,devotees,ganga,priests,society,culture

The abode of the God:

Facing tall trees, a cemented canopy and a tower of apartments it is a tiny peepal tree recently planted by the locals with a marble platform for the devotees to worship the Deity of theirs when the sapling so planted blossoms to its full size. Their faith is that peepal tree is the abode of their God.

Link:http://gallery-neelkanth.blogspot.in/2012/02/entity-of-gods.html 

Technorati Tags: peepaltree,deity,devotees,worship,goddesses,god

Entity of God(s)

Is there any God? It’s a question as old as the mankind itself answers to which have been there in thousands of ways by the people in different ages none of which can of course claim finality in the matter till date. Time passes and so do the definitions changing every now and then. There is Ishwar for Hindus, God for Christians, Allah for Muslims and so on with a separate God for each religion. Is it not that the very phenomenon of God was created by humans themselves and if so be the case it appears that there is nothing like an independent entity of Him. His shape and design has been changing with the passage of time and today’s God in different pictures of his looks more elegant, appealing and inspiring with technological developments in the field of photography. Popularity of Gods also enhances and feigns with change of time like it does in the case of humans, say politicians and different other celebrities and there is nothing unique or abnormal in their case. Not they themselves but their worshippers decide as to which way their popularity graph tilts to the forward or backward directions. Some  more than three decades back Ganesh festival in Mumbai used to be celebrated in a very frugal order with certain smaller groups assembling here and there on the roads rejoicing the festivities. Such functions have since assumed enormous proportions with the Lord being displayed in giant size every where causing huge traffic jams and road blockages. Who brought these changes? The Lord himself or the devotees? The reason could be that every state in the country is for their own God and so is Maharashtra. As an exception the Islam is one religion that does not believe in any shape or design being specified for their Allah, the God who is invisible which factor safeguards him from being painted in free styled ways at times to the point of not being tasteful.

Technorati Tags: Ishwar,god,goddess,islam,hindu,invisible,maharashtra,religion,states

Procession of worshippers:

 Journeying from one place to the other I came across several processions with several trucks full of clay idols of different gods and goddesses particularly the most worshipped goddess Ma Kali sumptuously decorated. The procession moving forward on drummers tunes, it made the sight pleasant and inspiring with the big crowd  singing and dancing frantically looking like they were fully lost into themselves in a frenzy making the scene aweful at times to please their Dieties. Who are these people? Certainly the ones who committedly direct their worship to their gods and goddesses but how come it is this very crowd that consists of the persons who are anti social elements, creaters of riots, loot the people in the train, kidnap innocent men, women and children. Is it not very difficult to reconcile with the people with their double face -one that they wear for public and the other one for their own gains through nefarious methods. Do they take it for granted that their demonstration of this sort of worship pleases their deities allowing them to commit any nonsense for the society as a whole.The question that always remains unanswered is that possible they are the people who can't behave themselves.