Hooked on India

Within our first week of arriving Sull and I attended our first temple festival in the village of Nadukuppam, a local village about an hour from where we are staying. Upon arrival we were walking down the main street towards the temple and were passed by numerous tractors and cars all decorated with flowers, banana leaves, bells and picture of various Gods, we weren’t to find out until later on what these would be for.

The village was filled with food stalls and tacky toyshops and reminded me a little of visiting a carnival. Fire-crackers were continually being let off by cheeky little boys and cheeky older ones as well. There were men riding on bicycles ringing bells selling ice-creams and fairy floss, a nice variation on a Mr. Whippy van. Children were dressed in their finest, some having travelled long distances to for the celebration (we had actually picked up a group of about 8 young girls aged between 5 and 14, walking on their way to the village, about 6kms out).

We took off our chappals (thongs) and entered the temple. Food was being presented to the temple and after some time, the entire lot was smeared over the top of one big bald man. I am not quite sure of the significance of this, but he pretty much sat there and took it as tumeric, flour and milk was poured over his head, running into his eyes and down his body. There were women in trances (maybe not so different to any number of our friends at Yah Yahs on a Saturday night). Large groups of people hopped across hot coals and there were also young boys who stood very still while there parents used a needle and thread to sew limes tied to cotton into their skin- didn’t even flinch- a sign of courage for the Gods I was later told.

By far though the highlight of the afternoon was the whole hook fiasco! Men lay face down on wooden benches while older men pinched their backs and pierced it, threading large hooks (think of the meat hook variety) through the skin and muscle- see attached movie 'getting hooked'.

After the hooks were securely fastened, the men proceeded to do a number of tricks for the crowd. Some were tied to a merry-go-round, with small babies thrust into

their arms while they were propelled around. Others hung from their backs from large wires, like human flying foxes throwing offerings of food amongst the crowd. The grand finale however involved fastening the hooks through the men’s backs to decorated tractors while they hauled them down the street in front of large cheering crowds.

Quite an unbelievable day and certainly an incredible introduction to India, leaving me with much curiosity and anticipation for all that lies ahead…