The Almighty Dhol

This will be a long one, so sit back, relax, and try to take in all the information I am about to throw at you.  I woke up at 6:45 this morning in order to be ready for yoga at 7:30, and it was by far the most difficult thing I did today.  My sleeping habits here have been to go to bed around midnight and wake up around 9 for school at 11 or 11:30, so this sudden shift really threw me off.  Once I was awake enough to function adequately, I went over to Colby’s house and walked with him and his host mom over to yoga.  I had a lot of preconceived notions about yoga, but this was quite different from anything I expected.  The “yoga studio” I anticipated was a small room located on the top floor of what appeared to be a small apartment building, and as we entered we each grabbed a mat which was more like a large rug.  The yoga itself I expected to consist almost entirely of holding different stretches with names like ‘downward-facing dog’ for minutes at a time.  I was surprised, then, when I was asked to hold each position for only a few seconds before moving on to the next.  There was also a portion dedicated to more of an aerobic activity as well as a few minutes of meditation (yes we did chant om).  This I found quite relaxing and it was really nice to just take a few minutes to breathe deeply and calm my mind.  I thoroughly enjoyed the experience I am sure yoga will become a highlight of my week as I continue my time here. 

On to dhol and the Ganpati festival.  I’ll start with the mythology and history of the festival.  Ganpati is a celebration of the Hindu god Ganesh (the one with the elephant head).  There are many different beliefs about Ganesh’s origin, but the most widely accepted is that he is the son of Parvati and Shiva.  One version of the story holds that Shiva came home after an extended time away and demanded to enter his house.  Ganesh did not allow his father in because he was a stranger to him.  Furious, Shiva cut off Ganesh’s head.  Upon realizing his grievous error, Shiva went out into the woods to find his son a new head and cut off the head of the first animal he saw – an elephant.  Ganesh is considered one of the most important gods in all of Hinduism.

The Ganpati festival began as a secret meeting for Indian revolutionaries under British rule, but continues still today because people liked it and Indians really enjoy a good festival.  This celebration is also called Ganesh Chaturthi, and is most popular in Maharashtra.  The festival lasts 10 days and centers on idols of Ganesh.  Families bring in small statues of the god, and many idols much larger take up residence around the city.  Some are even 20 feet tall!  The celebration concludes with a bang and several days of parades through the streets as the idols are carried through town and accompanied by large bands of drums.  Millions of people fill the streets to watch and the atmosphere is supposed to be absolute madness.  I cannot wait!  At the end of the 10 days, the idols are sent off in the nearest body of water.  I’m sure I will have a lot more to say about this festival once I have experienced it.

I am extremely excited to not only watch the celebration, but to participate in one of the bands.  These bands consist of two kinds of drums in addition to the chime: dhol and tasha.  The tasha is a small drum much like a snare, and the dhol is the Indian equivalent of a bass drum.  The rhythms played in this festival are simple and repetitive, but groups play for hours at a time and it is physically taxing.  Picture a large, metal trash with a drum head on each side, tying this around your waist with rope, and beating it with all your energy for several hours.  This is what I have been practicing for a month and what I will experience fully later this month.  The dhol is played using your left hand to beat one head like you would to play an African drum, and holding a wooden mallet called a tipru in your right hand to beat the right head.  The dhol creates a truly powerful sound, and the effect of almost 50 people playing together is a bass vibration that you can feel through your whole body (it surpasses even the sub woofer on a pair of Beats headphones!).  My group is called Swaraj and they meet every day for three hours.  I have not attended every practice because the rhythms came easily to me, and I am an exchange student so I cannot commit myself completely to one activity in order to experience as much culture as possible.  However, with the festival coming up quickly, I should probably play as often as possible.  I am unbelievably excited to participate in this festival and to see such an important celebration.  This is my first huge festival in India and I cannot wait to see India in full celebration mode.  Sorry this post has gone really long, but there is a lot to say.  I will make sure to take a lot of pictures so you can see just how awesome it all is!  Until next time.