I was fortunate enough to be able to travel to Mumbai for a few days at the begining of February with my Host Aunt! Her Uncle had a religious ceremony at his house, well actually at two different houses!
Her Uncle was moving from one house to the other, so he was moving all of the Idols in his temple from the old house to the new house! There was also another ceremony which took all the sins from the old house out for the next family that lived there, and then another ceremony at the new house that took all the sins from building the house out of the house before they move into the house! =D
The first three pictures on the left depict the ceremony. The first picture is of the Idols being taken out of the old house! The second picture is of the Idol's being placed onto the horse carriage to be taken to the new house! Everyone walked with the horse carriage to the new house! It was lots of fun! The third picture is of the set up for the ceremony in the new house! They had all types of food set up, because they offered all the food that they would eat in the new house to the Gods before they would eat the food! It was very beautiful!!
Then since I was in Mumbai my Host Aunt decided to take me into "Proper Bombay" where the Taj hotel, and the Gateway of India are!!
Not only did I see the Taj Hotel and the Gateway of India, but I also saw Mount Mary a very famous church in Bombay/Mumbai, Chowpatty beach (pictured to the left) and Marine Drive/Mumbai Necklace!
Chowpatty Beach is a famous beach in Mumbai where people go to sit, eat, and talk! :) There was even an ice cream named after it!
The last picture is of the Mumbai Necklace off of Marine Drive! :) At night when the sun sets the lights on Marine Drive cover the shore of Mumbai so it looks like a necklace, people can see the necklace from the walkway of Marine Drive as well as from Chowpatty Beach! =D
Uttarayan (Also Known As..... Kite Flying Festival) was celebrated on January 14th and 15th! It was lots of fun for me because I had never really seen so many kites, and I also learned to fly kites in a different way! The purpose of flying kites is to cut the kite strings of other people! It is a lot of fun because whenever you cut someone else's kite string you yell "LAPET" which means "real it in!"
On January 15th I was able to fly more kites and I actually cut someone's kite, so I yelled "LAPET!" It is also funny when you are standing on your terrace and you cut you neighbor's kite, and you say "Sorry, Uncle!" But it is nice that way because everyone celebrates together and you are able to see all their friends and neighbors!
Uttarayan is celebrated to mark the end of the winter season and the beginning of the harvest season!
Neighborhood
Explore friends, family, friends & family, or entire neighborhood.
