Pondi 1
Return to Pondicherry after a two-month journey. Just to land a little after a lot of turbulence.
Little trip to my barber…
At the beach with Rishabh
Marvel at nature
Ganesh day
Ganesh, child god with the head of an elephant is the son of Shiva, the main deity of Hinduism. On August 31, Hindus go to temples to worship Ganesh and be anointed by monks.
This evening, almost a kilometer of tail in a zen atmosphere. Just a minister and his family arrived with their driver and a few policemen. For them, no queue, no waiting…
Leaving the temple, an elephant is present. custom dictates that we give him a gift of food and the elephant blesses us with his trunk. Of course, I didn’t fail to do so.For all the photos, click on the following link: page “Daily life and spirituality” / “Ganesh day”
The following Sunday evening, parade of floats by the sea. After the parade, cranes come into action. Effigies of Ganesh are entrusted to the sea.
Petanque
Pétanque is one of the consequences of the French presence in the territories of Pondicherry…
Many places serve as a playground and there are many players.
On the one hand, there are the Tamils of French descent who play in the white city on land belonging to the Catholic Church, they play among themselves. And then, throughout the territory, there are places and players. The particularity is that the Indians play for money. Stakes range from 20 to 500 rupees.
For my part, I play with a group on a vacant lot. The stake is 20 rupees (25 Euro cents).
I didn’t see the point of playing for money and then after a few days, I understood one thing: in France, we play for fun but the games are often power struggles and ego battles…
All things considered, a wager of 20 rupees per game (25 Euro cents) is much healthier than ego battles. I love playing with the Indians.
Visit of Krishna’s organic farm in Auroville
Go on the Auroville page: Solitude Farm and Café
Bahour Lake
Superb morning with my two friends Rischab and Ravi. Ravi knows Pondicherry well and shares his knowledge.
Stop at a roadside market…
Arrival at the lake
A bit of politics: Lake Bahour is located on the border between two states: The territory of Pondicherry and Tamil Nadu.
There are significant differences in laws between Indian states. For exemple :
A helmet is compulsory for driving a motorbike in Tamil Nadu. Nobody wears a helmet on the territory of Pondicherry. Beer is taxed at a rate of 50% in Tamil Nadu and no tax in the territory of Pondicherry.
A little agriculture: South India is arid but there are a large number of lakes developed to allow irrigation of crops.
Visit a Hindu temple. On the first photo, in the background, we can see a large number of stored statues. These are offerings. The Hindus come to deposit sculptures in the temple as an offering. In return, they make a wish that will come true… or not…
At sunset near the pier
South east
South
West
North
