Every Saturday night since December, the small
Radha-
Madhava deities come out of the temple and are royally treated to a ride around the complex on their bull-driven chariot. The atmosphere is surcharged with excitement, the air filled with incense, and flower petals are showered from the rooftops.
Everything about the procession is beautiful. Yet, despite drums, bells, cymbals, and
kirtan, the bulls remain calm and composed. They are gentle giants and embody the self-realized quality of tolerance.
The deities are offered opulent foodstuffs along the way and occasionally we are treated to their remnants (
prasadam). Reach, reach, reach!
One
maha cherry and one
maha grape! My life is
complete (at least my Saturday night)!
The kids are stoked.
Before the procession, many devotees draw and design elaborate chalk and sand paintings on the pavement throughout the streets.
And thus goes by another surreal Saturday night in
Sridhama Mayapur.
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