Among the assumptions with which I walk along here is that at any time no matter where you are just about anything can happen and then you find yourself in the midst of an unplanned adventure. This does mean that you have to have a good stomach for uncertainty.
One of these adventures started with a casual walk where I happened to notice lots of people running around being quite busy about something. I just followed them a bit and saw that they were putting together some kind of an event on a small dead end street. It was beautifully adorned with gold and flowers and I walked through the elegant entrance and approached the most responsible looking man in the lot, the one that seemed to be giving instructions to all the others, and asked him what was going on. He said that it was a celebration for Durga, one of the Hindu Goddesses.
I did not know much about this Goddess or the ceremony, but I was intrigued. The man realized this and invited me to come by and take part in the ceremony, “Come at nine” he said, meaning nine at night, and then he added, “It will go on until five in the morning.” So I headed home trying to balance my desire for experience and also my need for rest. But in the end realized that I was in India and had to take advantage of all the experiences that I could find. I put on my nicest Kurta (Indian suit for men) and headed out to see what the ceremony was all about.
As you entered there was a very nice set-up with lots of food being prepared and offered. At the time I did not think of taking a picture of it because it seemed so unimportant in the scheme of the celebration… but it was quite an assortment of food and tasty Indian treats. just past it to the right were some tables that had been set up to eat at. It was done in the garden were I had enjoyed just days before with the wonderful children… it was so beautifully lit. I wish these pictures could have captured it.
And then inside was the impressive altar that had been set up for the ceremony itself.
Though it was to be a Durga celebration, you can see how so many of the Hindu Deities were set upon the altar as well.
and here is Durga in all her glory…
Then the pandit arrived and lit the candles… it seemed as though it was almost time for the ceremony to begin.
All of the sudden it did… though in a most unexpected way for me at least… A most interesting group of musicians sat near the altar and set themselves up. Before I knew it they were playing away singing in a most excited way and the crowd seemed to be following along. There was so much energy in the place and it was so extremely exciting… I could not understand a word, but the feeling alone was enough…
The man in the purple seemed to be the main singer… he had an amazing high voice… I thought for a moment that he could have once been a member of the Indian version of the Begees… but I was told by the man siting next to me that he was quite a famous singer for these types of celebrations in Delhi. A celebrity of sorts here.
Yet I must admit that I was most intrigued by the man in the white. He was such a funny character… I took many, many pictures of him hoping to capture a little bit of the uniqueness about him… He was so lively, so joyful and so interesting… Imagine if Kramer from Seinfeld was Indian and played in a band… yes, I am totally serious.
here he goes…
I enjoyed the singing and clapped along. Most of the time the man in the purple was singing with his back to us, which I thought was strange… but as I found out, it was on purpose since he was not actually singing for us, but rather he was singing for Durga herself… asking her to bless all those present with great abundance, health, success, knowledge and enlightenment. Thank you very much!
He then stepped up to the front and gave some kind of speech. I have no idea what it was about… but he pointed at us in the crowd a few times… One of those times it looked as though he was pointing at me… I hoped I had not done anything wrong… yet everyone seemed to look in my direction. I looked at the man next to me as if to ask what that was about an he just smiled and shook his head with approval… Well done accidental monk… whatever it was, it was an accident, thus the name acidental monk 
I stayed there for about an hour and a half in the middle of all of the singing and enjoying. I kept hoping that at some point the Pandit would do some kind of chanting… but it never really happened… he just sat there and people walked up to him and received some kind of personal blessings… which I did as well at the invitation of one of the organizers…
I did not stay the whole time of the celebration… yet I came home charged with the high energy of the evening and the joy of the experience. It was beautiful… full of light and music… a delightful kind of spiritual experience and a sweet discovery to how a neighborhood might come together to celebrate their beliefs in my India…
There was a moment there were I sat in the middle of everyone clapping… with the sweet song and drumming going straight to my heart… I closed my eyes and thought of Durga as she had been presented to me tonight on that altar… and one way or another my thoughts turned to my mother… and I felt a deep sense of love come over me… That night I celebrated Durga, Mother Divine in all her forms, and my mother with a full, grateful heart… All gratitude and all love to you… Always…
Wow, so sweet!
That is a beautifully written description of your experience, David. You seemed to float so easily between humor, awe, humility and appreciation. I think these celebrations in local temples can be quite spectacular and in my own small experiences the sense of community and desire to share something joyous and profound together quite overwhelms me. Reminds me very much of times spent at a temple in Mathura and also at another local temple in Delhi. The pictures you took also add so much!