Hare Krishna!

Inside the temple, no flash. I was told after these pictures not to take anymore.

Human pyramid, above. Treasures strung below...
The bus below is full of a team of guys heading to the next pot. Many wear matching t-shirts and practice for months! There was even a team from Spain this year...

Sunday was a celebration of Krishna in Mumbai (And many other parts of India as well!) I met up with my friend Vikram, who gave me the lowdown on his family's puja and the background behind the Krishna vestivities.

Here's my understanding of it...Hindus believe in Brahman (not to be confused with Brahmin, which means priest). Brahman is the all powerful universal force. Hindus believe that Brahman can take any form that they want it to. Thus there are many gods, Krishna and Ganesh for example, that Hindus pray to. Now, it's important to recognize that Hindus are not practicing idolatry by praying to these gods, as they are still focusing their energy towards Brahman. (I think...)

So, on this particular day, which rotates every year due to the Hindu solar/lunar calendar, Krishna is honored. Many Hindus who focus on Krishna more specifically go to temple to offer puja to the shrines. Even Hindus who worship other gods, like my friend Vikram who pays honors to Ganesh, will give homage to Krishna. So, Vikram and I went to the Hare Krishna temple in Juhu, a suburb a few north of Bandra. There, we were ushered in with many other worshipers. We took off our shoes and were led through a line up to the shrines. Many people were clapping in rhythm to the music being played. Others offered fruit and flowers to the Krishna shrines. Krishna was a fan of sweets and milk based foods.

Speaking of milk based foods, that leads to another tradition of the Krishna festival. People turnout in the streets in hordes to watch the human pyramids. Basically, large groups of guys (a few women teams too...although I didn't see any), travel all over the city looking for pots strung above the streets. When they see a pot, with sweets and cash strung along it, they build a human pyramid. I saw some stack 4-5 levels of people high. Once they have constructed this human tower, the person on top, likely a light weight kid, uses his head to crush open the pot. Curd, milk and butter come splashing on the pyramid, and they share in the spoils of their winnings.

The tradition itself is rooted in a story about Krishna's love of milk based sweets. As it goes, Krishna's mother was tired of him getting in to the butter all the time, so she stored it up high. Krishna then gathered his friends together to build a pyramid so that they could reach the forbidden sweets.

All in all, it was a very interesting and enjoyable cultural experience! Hare (Praise) Krishna!
And a final clarification, Hare Krishna is a rare proselytizing branch of Hinduism. But the phrase itself simply means praise Krishna.