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Kedarnath Procession II Here's a shot from up above, showing not only the palanquin, but (riding on the horse) one of the Kedarnath temple priests. By tradition, the Kedarnath temple priests are South Indian Virashaivas (an early medieval devotional sect that worshipped Shiva as the supreme and only god), and they appear to be ascetics as well. He and his companion are clearly of higher status, shown as they ride horses while the others walk.
November 2005 |
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Outside the town the procession stopped for ten minutes, while a local devotee gave tea to all the marchers and onlookers (including me). The palanquin was set down with the standards leaning against it, and the priest conducted some worship on behalf of the man and his family (here his wife and daughter can be seen in the background). |
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Here's a close up shot of the traveling image. It has four faces (as does the image of Pashupatinath in Nepal), and is crafted of silver and gold. Note that the there is a silver umbrella on top of the palanquin over the canopy, which mirrors the larger silver umbrella that hangs over the primary image (and is conveyed up and down as a symbol of the deity). |
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Here's a close-up of the larger silver
umbrella, which was propped up on some of the reinforcing rods protruding
from the roof of the building (which will someday be the floor of
another building. The tooling and decoration is clearly visible, and
the quality of the work is very fine.
November 2005 |
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After ten minutes or so the drummers
started beating time again, to get the procession moving the final half mile
or so to the Vishvanath temple, where the image would spend the night in the
temple guest house.
Here the men were lifting the palanquin so that the two men carrying it could get themselves in position to carry it by the handles, and the man in the foreground (who in previous pictures was the man in front of the palanquin) has sweat running down his face, clearly showing the effort needed to carry the palanquin.
November 2005 |
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Here the drummers and procession are entering the compound of the Gupt Kashi temple. The procession circled (clockwise) around the two temples in the compound--both dedicated to Shiva--and then went off to the right side, to the guest house where the image would spend the night, before going on to Ukhimath the next day. I was perfectly placed to get a photo of the image entering the temple a moment later, but with this final picture here the card on my digital camera was full, and so I didn't get the photo of it--either a sign of my photo inexperience, a bit of divine play to frustrate me, or maybe both. November 2005 |
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progress.
Page maintained by James G. Lochtefeld.
Last modified 28 January 2006
Hinduism
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