Things have been very festive around here the past couple of weeks. It is leading up to Diwali which is easiest to compare to Christmas back home. Everyone does a lot of decorating and shopping to exchange gifts and people host parties for family and friends. Diwali is the festival of lights so homes and businesses all put lights up. People also play a lot of cards and gamble at the parties because part of the ritual is to celebrate Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth.
Not part of Diwali but occurring around the same time (probably because people shop more now than at other times) is a cultural festival held just a couple of blocks from where I'm staying. It goes on for a few weeks and I went last weekend. People from all over India come and sell different goods, they had a lot of pottery, jewelry, clothes, paintings, all sorts of things. It was interesting to see the styles of the different regions. It also put my bargaining skills to the test because there aren't set prices - I need some work in this area.. While I was there I watched a show that had performances from dancers and musicians also from all over India. It was really entertaining and again the styles were so different. There was one group from a village in Maharashtra (the state I am in) and they were all completely painted as animals and wore masks and the dancing was not choreographed. This was completely different from a performance done by all women from Rajasthan in northern India, there's was more of a play and they all sang and wore bright colors and had very choreographed moves. Here are some pictures:
Not part of Diwali but occurring around the same time (probably because people shop more now than at other times) is a cultural festival held just a couple of blocks from where I'm staying. It goes on for a few weeks and I went last weekend. People from all over India come and sell different goods, they had a lot of pottery, jewelry, clothes, paintings, all sorts of things. It was interesting to see the styles of the different regions. It also put my bargaining skills to the test because there aren't set prices - I need some work in this area.. While I was there I watched a show that had performances from dancers and musicians also from all over India. It was really entertaining and again the styles were so different. There was one group from a village in Maharashtra (the state I am in) and they were all completely painted as animals and wore masks and the dancing was not choreographed. This was completely different from a performance done by all women from Rajasthan in northern India, there's was more of a play and they all sang and wore bright colors and had very choreographed moves. Here are some pictures:
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