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purification by fire, dondi
Dondi @ Kalighat, Kolkata 2015
Dondi is a Hindu religious rite or ritual, an act of penance and worship to the Goddess Shitala to keep diseases at bay and keep her family healthy
It is performed mainly in Kolkata and Bengal, that I’m aware of & at quite a few locations. This particular event is held annually at Kalighat Kali temple area in the peak of summer. Devotees prostrate themselves on the bare ground in prayer, then get up to walk a few steps before prostrating all over again. The journey starts with a dip at the Ganga river banks in Kalighat and terminates about a kilometer away with a fire ritual
Most participants are women and children, with the odd men thrown in
Water is liberally strewn out onto the streets, by water tankers, volunteers and well wishers - by buckets on to the streets and participating devotees just to make this event possible
In a nutshell, www.joydeepmukherjee.com/gallery.php?id=NzE=
The golden rule if you wish to get into the thick of things is to get your foot wear off
needless to say my footwear came off very early on
first time i was witnessing this event, so i did not know the rules or the tricks
next up, is to save your gear from all the splashing water
For babies too young to participate in the dondi, they are often placed on the backs of the performing devotees, or placed on their paths on the ground. Sometimes the performing devotees are even asked to walk over these babies - a good omen or so they believe
purification by fire, dondi
Dondi @ Kalighat, Kolkata 2015
Dondi is a Hindu religious rite or ritual, an act of penance and worship to the Goddess Shitala to keep diseases at bay and keep her family healthy
It is performed mainly in Kolkata and Bengal, that I’m aware of & at quite a few locations. This particular event is held annually at Kalighat Kali temple area in the peak of summer. Devotees prostrate themselves on the bare ground in prayer, then get up to walk a few steps before prostrating all over again. The journey starts with a dip at the Ganga river banks in Kalighat and terminates about a kilometer away with a fire ritual
Most participants are women and children, with the odd men thrown in
Water is liberally strewn out onto the streets, by water tankers, volunteers and well wishers - by buckets on to the streets and participating devotees just to make this event possible
In a nutshell, www.joydeepmukherjee.com/gallery.php?id=NzE=
The golden rule if you wish to get into the thick of things is to get your foot wear off
needless to say my footwear came off very early on
first time i was witnessing this event, so i did not know the rules or the tricks
next up, is to save your gear from all the splashing water
For babies too young to participate in the dondi, they are often placed on the backs of the performing devotees, or placed on their paths on the ground. Sometimes the performing devotees are even asked to walk over these babies - a good omen or so they believe