Now that im back in paradise for a long, much needed vacation, I thought Ill have plenty of time to update the blog daily. Then laziness kicks in and sleeping takes 1st priority. Now that the ignorant week has passed, I hope to update this as often as i can.
These pictures when taken just outside my house. When a group of pilgrims were following the "Rath" or chariot dedicated to Sri Narayana Guru, a spiritual leader who lead the reform movement in Kerala to rid the society off casteism. He denounced discrimination in the name of caste and religion and promoted social equality, which helped the rise of the socially depressed and backward classes in Kerala which included the "Ezhava" community of which the Guru himself was born into(and me!). It was the shining story of the change of society into a more cosmopolitain world order.
The SNDP(Sri Narayana Dharma Paripalana) was set up as the 1st organisation to see Kerala as a whole. Though the Guru wanted the group to function as the vanguard of his 'Liberation Movement', the leadership of the SNDP could not rise to the expectation of the Guru and could function only as a caste organisation and remains so till date. Hence, in 1916, the Guru sent his resignation letter to the group and attributed 'caste pride' to the leaders of the SNDP and declared that he belonged to no caste and tht he was non-religious.
What you see in these pictures are its pilgrims, wearing yellow, the adopted colour of the followers of the Guru, mostly of the SNDP and indirectcly the Ezhava caste. Such is India! God, rest his pure soul in peace.
