Walking around Arunachala is not the only way to perform pradakshina. Here this earnest sadhu is rolling his way around. A slow and very painful process which will usually be taken slowly, stretching over 2-3 days with multiple stops for rest and recovery.
This is not an uncommon sight and usually associated with the observance of a vow. One will see both women and men undertaking such tapas. But one thing is essential and that is traffic protection assistance!
Sometimes highly esteemed or rich folk have a whole posse of people in their retinue - and the lucky ones will even have taken the precaution of having a person preceding the 'roller' cleaning the roadways of gravel and bits of stone.
3 comments:
I saw such things when I visited Govardhana some years ago (the mountain hold aloof by Krishna). Many, many people were rolling around that hill. They tried to convince me to do it too! No thanks! That is an interesting fact about people who have others to clean the roads before them, and act as traffic protection!
Gives a new nuance to the phrase
"Holy Roller"!
Good one! I like it, Holy Roller!
The worst part must be the traffic - nasty brutes alot of the truck and bus drivers - the assistants (of the Roll-e) really need to PAY ATTENTION.
Who would have thought that rolling about could be such dangerous work?!
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