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Further to my posting on December 8th of the Big Car Festival which is part of the annual Deepam Festival, I am posting below more photographs of that day.
The ladies in the next photograph are actually holding on to chains attached to the Big Car and pulling it along -- which is its only means of propulsion.
In the below young lads jump on wooden levers jammed under the gigantic car wheels to give it a 'jump start' whenever it gets stuck.
The car started moving at 2 p.m. around the perimeter of the 26 acre Arunachaleswara Temple compound and by the time it had completed its circumbulation, night had fallen.
This year for the very first time I participated in the pulling of the chariot for most of the length of Thiruvoodal Street (which is famous during Pongal for a celebratory drama -- Thiruvoodal Festival -- between Lord Shiva and his consort Parvati). It was an amazing and thrilling experience.
WOW congrats on participating for the first time! Look at all those crowds, the energy must have been quite an experience!
ReplyDeleteI think Maha Ratham (correct spelling; the South Indians colloquially use the "d" sound) is better translated into 'Grand Chariot'. Big Car sounds rather comical :)
ReplyDeleteYour comment is quite correct but the street is popularly called Car Street and the Chariot is often referred to as Big Car -- in the English language by ordinary rustic Tamils. I suppose popular usage trumps grammar most often nowadays!
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