...Navatri festival 2011

From September 28, 2011 to October 5, 2011, the Navatri festival has been celebrated.  Nav' means 'nine' and 'ratri' means 'night'. Thus, 'Navratri' means 'nine nights'.  The first three days of Navratri are dedicated to Goddess Durga (Warrior Goddess) dressed in red and mounted on a lion. Next three days are dedicated to Goddess Lakshmi (Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity), dressed in gold and mounted on an owl and finally, last three are dedicated to Goddess Saraswati (Goddess Of Knowledge), dressed in milky white and mounted on a pure white swan.

During this festival it is a custom, in Tamil nadu, to display a "Kolu". Kolu is adorned with dolls – predominantly with that of the gods and goddesses depicting mythology.  Dr Ramani invited all of us and Professor Alagar to his house so that we could see first hand 'Kolu' and the festivities for these days.

Kolu at Dr. Ramani's house

Kolu at Dr Ramani's house

 For this special occasion, the Sankara team (Sverre, Alex & I) dressed in our Indian costumes.

Sverren, Alex & Mercedes dressed to go to Dr. Ramani's house

We also had the pelasure of enjoying 'Gujarati' dancing because there is a group of Gujarati ladies being trained for the Sankara hospital in  Mogar

Overall, again, an excellent experience, and a great demonstration of the hospitality, friendliness, warmthness and care we are being provided by our NGO partner, Sankara


As usual other photos for the day are available

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