Read Online Daniel's Dream by Peter Michael Rosenberg - Free Book Online

the south. He had been sent by National Geogruphic to photograph the remarkable Sri Minakshi temple in the pilgrimage city of Madurai. The Sri Minakshi was probably the finest example of Dravidian architecture in all India, and it was one of the most colourful buildings that Daniel had ever encountered.
     
    The temple complex covered an area of fifteen acres and was bounded by high walls and a series of gopurums : huge, rectangular-based pyramids, typical of the Dravidian style, which were undoubtedly the most exciting feature. Every evening in the Sri Minakshi the most colourful of ceremonies took place; part of Daniel’s brief was to capture the essence of this event, a task which turned out to be a great deal more problematical than he at first realised.
     
    On his first evening, he arrived early and tried to take some light measurements. The interior of the temple was gloomy, to say the least, and there were so many obstructing pillars that he soon realised taking photographs was going to be a major problem. Knowing that the ceremony took place every evening, Daniel decided to abandon any attempt to take photos this time and just watch the event, so that he would be better prepared the following evening.
     
    A number of pilgrims and tourists gathered in the dark, musty interior, and assembled around a central statue of some deity or other, then waited for something to happen. They did not have to wait long. During the ceremony, an image of the great god Siva was carried in a highly omate palanquin by four stout bearers, from an unseen inner sanctum to the bedroom of Parvati, his wife. The image remained curtained off, invisible to all but the most devout acolytes, one of whom constantly fanned away the smoking incense that poured out of the curtained box, as if Siva himself were on fire, no doubt anticipating the pleasures of the night that lay ahead.
     
    The procession, which lasted no more than twenty minutes, was marked by a sense-shattering amalgam of noise, action and ritual. Every now and then, the parade would halt for a moment while a dozen devotees marched with great fervour around the palanquin. Throughout, musicians playing drums and reedy, trumpet-like instruments kept up a constant and impressive barrage of sound, until the palanquin disappeared from sight into Parvati’s bedroom. It was all over far too fast for Daniel’s liking; he saw nothing but problems in trying to record the event in a series of images suitable for publication in a magazine which, as was well known in the trade, set the highest standards of all.
     
    Ritual was everywhere in Madurai, and, as Daniel soon discovered, one could not negotiate the streets surrounding the temple for long without encountering an opportunity to be blessed by an elephant. The elephant, considered a good-luck symbol in India, was exemplified by the most favoured of all Indian gods, Ganesh, the elephant-headed son of Siva and Parvati. The elephants that cruised the streets of the city were friendly, lumbering beasts, often painted in bright, colourful patterns along their flanks and across their trunks. Daniel wasted no time in taking some shots of these mighty animals, particularly as they performed the blessings. Men, women and children would gather round for their chance to be blessed. They would place a small coin in the elephant’s dextrous trunk; the elephant usually ‘shook hands’ with the participant, before passing the coin to its  mahout . The elephant would then raise its trunk high and bring it down on the participant’s head with a gentle tap. Then it was on to the next one.
     
    Both these events - the ritual of the palanquin and the elephant blessing - were perfect examples of that aspect of India that Daniel found so appealing. In India, by and large, religious and spiritual matters were not separated from the everyday: on the contrary, they were integrated. Spirituality was