Tag Archives: video

Shivratri in Varanasi

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Girls playing Goddesses

Shivratri is the wedding anniversary of Lord Shiva and the biggest festival in Varanasi. This year, it was celebrated on the 30th of March. The date is determined by the Hindu lunar calendar, so it changes every year. As per the calendar, Mahashivaratri falls on the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight of Phalguna (February/March). I had always wanted to document this festival, and this year I finally got the opportunity. Several temples in Varanasi organize a wedding parade of Lord Shiva on Shivratri. I went to a very big temple called Mahamrityunjay Temple, which is famous for its parade.

Girls playing Goddesses

The ghosts

I tried to contact the mahant of the temple, who was supposed to be one of the organizers, or at least an important member of the committee. But to my surprise, he told me straight away that he didn’t know anything about who was organizing it. I was shocked. I then asked several other people at the temple, but nobody seemed willing to say who was behind the event or who I should approach to get filming permission. Very strange people. I spoke with at least 20 people, and the response was always the same—they didn’t know who was organizing the parade.

The ghosts

Goddess Shitla

Finally, I gave up on this temple and went to another one called Tilbhandeshwar Temple, which is also one of the biggest Shiva temples in Varanasi. The people there were much more helpful. They gave me all the information I needed and permitted me to come on the festival day and film inside the temple. I was really happy to have their permission. I arrived on the festival day around 8 am and was surprised to see that preparations had already been underway for a long time. Hundreds of people were at the temple, dressing up and getting ready for the parade.

Goddess Shitla

Baby Shiva

Since the festival is so important to the people of Varanasi, everyone wanted to participate. A committee was formed to choose the right characters for the parade. There were all kinds of characters, including gods, goddesses, demons, and ghosts. This was because Shiva is believed to have all kinds of followers—even ghosts and demons—who also took part in his wedding. The atmosphere was truly amazing, full of excitement and energy.

baby Shiva

Makeup

There were four makeup artists working non-stop on the characters, and there was always a line of people waiting for their turn. My friend Lane, from Seattle, had come with me just to watch the parade but ended up playing Parshuram! The organizers were so delighted to see a foreigner that they asked him if he’d like to be part of the parade, and as usual, Lane agreed. I interviewed several characters, and the best conversation was with the man playing Lord Shiva. He was fascinating. He told me he had been playing Shiva for the past eight years. When I asked why it was always him, he explained that he takes the role very seriously and calls Lord Shiva into his body, which earns him respect from the community. People actually want him to play Shiva year after year.

makeup

Lord Shiva on his horse

Even more interesting was the fact that his whole family was involved. His real son was playing baby Shiva. After his makeup was done, the man playing Lord Shiva went to the temple for blessings. This is the moment when he is believed to invite the spirit of Shiva into his body. The parade began right after this. All the characters rode on different animals and horses as the procession moved through many neighborhoods. I don’t know how, but thousands of people joined the parade. There was loud music, people dancing, snake charmers performing, and firecrackers going off everywhere to celebrate.

Lord Shiva on his horse

Free bhang

There were also free bhang stalls. Since bhang is traditionally offered at Shiva temples, it was distributed as a blessing. The parade lasted more than four hours before finally returning to the Tilbhandeshwar Temple around 6 PM. Once back at the temple, the man playing Shiva performed a symbolic wedding ceremony with his real wife, representing the marriage of Shiva and Parvati. After the rituals, the event concluded. It was incredible to see how people treated the characters as if they were the deities themselves. Many touched their feet in reverence. I was thrilled to have documented the whole event—and yes, I filmed it too! So happy to have experienced it.

free Bhang

 

Winning a television

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Today, while watching the news on India TV, I was reminded of a memorable experience from three years ago when I won their “Best Video of the Day” contest. At that time, Lane and I had visited Nagwa, Varanasi, to document untreated sewage discharge into the Ganga. Lane used his digital camera to capture footage of this issue. I sent the video to India TV, and it was selected as the “Best Video of the Day,” earning me a prize: a color TV. I was thrilled about the prize, especially since I didn’t own a TV and couldn’t afford one. However, India TV requested a bank draft of Rs. 2300 as a tax on the lottery winnings.

Eager to claim my prize, I sent the money. They then sent me a letter on Sansui’s letterhead (as Sansui sponsored the program) stating that I could collect the TV at the nearest Sansui store. Upon visiting the address listed on the letterhead, I discovered that the office had closed a year earlier. I reached out to India TV, who instructed me to contact Sansui’s Mumbai office. Mumbai redirected me to their Lucknow office, which then told me to wait a week. After a week, Lucknow informed me that no local dealer had the TV model I had won, and I would need to wait further. The same story persisted with each follow-up.

When I complained to India TV, they stated that their only role was to collect the money and forward it to Sansui, leaving the responsibility of delivering the TV to Sansui. Shocked by their response, I threatened to involve the police, but they dismissed my concerns. Despite continuous efforts to resolve the issue through Sansui’s Mumbai and Lucknow offices, as well as local dealers, no solution was forthcoming. Eventually, I decided to file a complaint with the police to document my attempts to resolve the issue. However, the police at my local station were unhelpful and informed me that they couldn’t register my complaint without connections at a larger station. This response was disheartening.

Ultimately, after over six months of persistence, I received my prize by traveling to Lucknow overnight. I spent more than Rs. 1500 on phone calls and the trip, which diminished my excitement about the TV. While I was initially thrilled to win, the experience of retrieving the prize was fraught with challenges. Since then, I’ve created several videos but have refrained from sending them to India TV due to their inadequate support and handling of the situation. My experience with India TV, Sansui, and the police was deeply frustrating and disappointing.

Vodeo filming for AIDSvideos.org

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I have received a project from an American organization called AIDSvideos.org, which produces videos to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS. They want me to create videos in every major Indian language. They have provided twenty-seven different scripts in five Indian languages, making it a long-term project. My tasks include translating these scripts into various Indian languages and then producing the videos. Since there are twenty-two official languages in India, completing the entire project could take several years.

I recently made a Hindi video using one of their scripts for Sanjeevani Booti, but it didn’t turn out as expected. During that time, an American student named Allen Roda from New York University was staying with me and had a high-quality camera. We used his camera to film the video. Without a teleprompter, I had the script printed and placed it on either side of the camera for the speaker to read. While this setup seemed fine on the small camera screen, it revealed issues when played on a larger TV. The speaker’s eyes were constantly shifting from side to side as they read from the different pages, making the video look unprofessional. Therefore, I’ve decided to re-record it.

Ravikant

I am encountering additional challenges. Lane and I searched for teleprompter software and found some that worked well with English scripts. However, these programs do not support Hindi or other Indian languages. Without a teleprompter, recording long scripts becomes very difficult. The script is eighteen minutes long, and it is nearly impossible for anyone to memorize such a lengthy text and present it smoothly on camera.

Our camera setup

I was very excited about this project, but the lack of a suitable teleprompter has become a significant obstacle. The speakers are concerned that they won’t be able to remember the entire script. Additionally, I translated the script into Bhojpuri, which was challenging due to the language’s many regional variations and accents. I aimed to write in a simple Bhojpuri that would be understandable to a broad audience. I’m confident that the translation will work well, but I am still unable to start producing the videos. I hope Lane will find a solution to the teleprompter issue soon. Meanwhile, I am also reaching out to others and searching online for potential fixes. I am eager to get this project underway and am excited about its potential.

Allen Roda