Metamorphosis

When I first arrived there was a certain tree in the village of Kullipalayam that seemed a little different. It may be because there were always old men sitting around it or because it was an abnormally giant tree at the intersection of two roads. Either way, it seemed different to me.

Every day for the past month I have driven by this tree and slowly seen it go through a metamorphosis from a tree into a Hindu temple. At first people started painting the tree yellow and red, then they began placing pictures, candles, and incense at the base of the tree, and then flowers were hung from its branches. Finally, last week, over the course of one day, a bamboo and palm structure was put up next to the tree. After this event, people started visiting the tree and makeshift temple structure much more frequently.

The culmination of this process happened last night. As I was eating dinner at a nearby restaurant, I heard shouting, chanting, and a whole other slew of noises coming from the area of the tree and temple. So, I wandered over to see what was going on. The following description is my best effort at a description of what was going on:

The setting was the area around the tree and temple-like structure and it was illuminated by candles. A man was in a trance-like state, rolling like a log, all over the ground around the tree and temple. He was mumbling things in Tamil and each time he said something, the 50 or so people around him would begin yelling and chanting. Water and other things were being thrown on the trance-like man during this period too. Finally, the man rolled into the temple-like structure (with some steering by some men) and everyone crowded into the 5x12 ft space. People began chanting, screaming, cheering, yelling, and throwing more stuff onto him. Then all of a sudden, in a frenzied state, three men come running out of the structure, grab some lemons, take them to various places around the tree and temple and smash them on the ground with their hands. Then, the trance-like man is left alone to lay in the temple while someone else falls into a trance…..

I don’t exactly know what to make of this situation but I intend to do a little research to see if I can get an explanation………

PS- I have become with friends with the guy who drove me to the airport last weekend and I am going to his house for lunch tomorrow!

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