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Published: February 4th 2007
Sari
A woman dries her sari in the wind.Feb 1 - 3 Jen had met this French guy Marc in Goa who was heading to a full moon festival in northern Karnataka, so we decided to join him. This was a great opportunity to see a side of the culture here that most tourists don't get to see. This wasn't a full moon party like the trance thing you find in Goa, but rather a religious gathering of about 500,000 local people to celebrate and worship their goddess, Yellamma. It was certainly like nothing I had ever seen or experienced before.
Marc had shown us some articles he had found about this religion and this festival in particular - there was this old practice of devotees offering their daughters to the temple to 'marry' the goddess - young girls, like 6 or 8 years old. Basically, these girls were given from their families, never to see them again, and end up being prostitutes (the Devidasis) to the priests and the wealthier men who 'sponsor' their marriage to the temple. This practice still goes on today, even though it was banned by the government (only recently). We didn't find any of these Devidasis because it is kept very underground,
Bathing tank
Pilgrims would first stop off here at the bathing tanks to purify themselves before heading to the temple. but it used to be associated with the festival at this temple outside of the small town of Soundatti in northern Karnataka.
We were also pretty much the only westerners there (we met 3 others at our hotel). All I know is that it was incredibly exhausting to be stared at and followed non-stop for 2 days. we felt like celebrities, freaks, or animals in a zoo at times - such a wierd feeling. Everywhere we went people would gather around us and stare or want to shake our hand - we were probably the only white people most of them had ever seen. But they were also very accommodating and friendly and we got special treatment - we were rushed inside the main temple to see their idol to Yellamma right away when everyone else waited in a long line for most of the day. We also got to spend nearly 5 minutes in front of the idol, when everyone else gets only a few seconds. The priest that was by the idol had us 'cleanse' our faces over this incense smoke - at least I'm guessing that what we were to do. It was a little awkward
because after that, he scooped up some unknown slimy bits from a bowl of white colored water and put a few pieces into each of our hands.... 'please don't be bugs, please don't be bugs' we were thinking, because at that point, we felt it would've been incredibly rude to refuse. It turned out to be some kind of slimy fruit piece and nuts, which we reluctantly swallowed. Finally, the priest scooped a spoonful of the dirty water into each of our hands, which we were to drink. it kind of puts you in an awkward position, because you don't really know what you're exposing yourself to. But it's all part of the experience.
The locals would also make sure we could get into the tents to see the different rituals, and many wanted us to take their pictures. Only a few of them asked for money, most just wanted to shake our hands and talk to us. It was a very crazy experience - and I took lots of pictures, which I'd love to upload to my blog as soon as I get to a proper high speed connection!
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Santosh
non-member comment
I traveller
Its amazing that u ended up at Yellamana gudda of all places. If you look at it, maybe the goddess called you there through a series of coincidences. I used to go there every year with my family when I was in India. Now that I am in New York, I am feeling nostalgic.