Thursday 15 August 2013
Sunday 11 August 2013
DIVINITY, RELIGION AND CULTURE
Divinity, Religion and Culture
I was at the Basilica of Our Lady
of Snow at Thoothukudi aka Tutticorin, a
sea port city located at the south west of India. My visit there coincided with
the church’s annual feast celebration. The city has an equally mixed population
of Hindus, Moslems and Christians.
I was particularly intrigued by
how the celebration had turned the entire city into a celebrative mood
regardless of religious belief. Furthermore,
Catholicism in itself is prescribed here with much blend of local culture and
value system. Interestingly, it should be
noted that when Vasco Da Gama landed on Indian shores, he was shocked to find
that there were already a local Christian community there. According to
historians, Christianity was brought into India by St Thomas the Apostle way
before the European dark ages.
As such Christianity in India has
evolved on its own, void of European religious order, blending with the local
sociocultural paradigm. Rituals
performed are very localised but never straying from divine purpose. I was amazed to see how, be it political,
social or even economic functionaries networked in a web of interdependence,
glueing everyday life of society. Perhaps it would be naïve to say that there
hasn’t been any major communal conflict, and conflicts if any, apparently
usually get settled within community dialogue.
The month of July/August is also
an auspicious month for both Moslems and Hindus alike. Moslems all over the
world go through a month of reverence via 30 days of fasting from dawn to dusk
in the month of Ramzan (Moslem calendar) which ended with the Eid Mubarak
celebration on the of 9th of August, this year.
As for the Hindus this period is
equally auspicious which is considered a month for purification of body and
soul via spiritual contemplation. The
month of Aadi (Hindu calendar) is devoted to spiritual activities which
includes Aadi Pirappu (1st day of Month of Aadi), Aadi Velli (Auspicious Friday of the month), Aadi Ammavasai (No moon Day ie. Blessing from
ancestors), Aadi Pooram (New Moon Day i.e
The birthday of Saint Poet Aandal who wrote Thirupavai), Varalakhsmi Pooja
(Worship of Goddess Mahalakshmi i.e
blessings for prosperity), Aadi Perukku
(Celebration for Fertility), Aadi
Karthigai (Worship of Lord Muruga i.e. Blessing for knowledge).
The activities I witnessed in
Tutticorin appeared to reflect a clash of civilizations. Everyone was busy doing
their own thing side by side without any inhibitions nor ‘tolerance’. On the
contrary the correct word would be ‘acceptance’ and everything was going about
as a matter of fact. The Azan prayer in the evening, was followed by the sermon
from the Basilica and then the chanting from a nearby Hindu temple could be
heard clearly beaming out from modern loudspeakers, but never at the same time.
Whether it was coincidental or not, I am not too sure, but what I witnessed
that day was something beyond my imagination.
One common feature I saw at the
entrance of all the places of worship and homes was the presence of Kolam (designs
made of coloured rice). The only difference was that the designs depicted symbols
of each faith but the act in itself is very much cultural in nature.
My experience there further
reasserts my own conviction on the philosophy of Unity in Diversity. Whether it
is coffee, tea or simply natural milk, what evaporates would be plain H2O.
I fervently hope for greater
awareness amongst more people in this world of the above philosophy – I believe
then the world will be a better place to live.
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