What a combination and best seen at the Sri Ramanavami season here in Bangalore.
We had been invited by Prashanth on Tuesday to the Sita Kalyanam event by the mandali at the East End of the sprawling Jaya Nagar neighborhood and got there at the fag end of the religious rituals.
The medium sized hall, carved out of the public utilities plot and built as a local temple was packed with people, mostly women in their brightest.
Even as the priests stuck to their rituals, outside tumblers of buttermilk and of jaggery-lime mix was handed out to the guests who bore the sultry heat of early April. News had come in that there were some good showers in coastal Karnataka but Bangalore sweated hard.
The nadaswaram and tail artistes played on and off, on cue to the priests' suggestion in a hall where for the past seven days Carnatic and Hindustani music had enthralled guests.
V Venkataraman, secretary of the Mandali and longtime Jaya Nagar resident shares stories of early life in this area when there was only one bus from City Market to the border of the nagar, letting early habitants to walk for 45minutes to an hour to get home; how howls and calls of animals in the thick vegetation filled the night and how life was peaceful and quiet.
The festival brings the 500 plus members together. And it welcomes even strangers to a meal every afternoon. Thanks to donations of rice, oil and veggies by well wishers the Mandali offers free lunch every day of the fest.
On Tuesday, when the rituals were done, prasadam presented and the hall cleaned up, everybody sat down for a simple lunch. The desserts of payasam and laddoos were wow.
It was 2.30 p.m. when we dragged ourselves out.
Sri Ramanavami celebrations present the best in food and music. The Jaya Nagar experience was just a window to the season, the atmosphere and the people.
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