Holi Festival, Hamburg, Germany

This weekend I was fortunate enough to attend the Holi festival in Hamburg with some friends.

And even more luckily we managed to get my camera inside, which was apparently not really allowed...

So what exactly is Holi Festival?

In Vaishnavism (a very specific form of Hinduism) there is an old story about Hiranyakashipu who was basically a demon god, who Brahama (Hindu God of Creation) had granted him a gift, that he could not be killed ""during day or night; inside the home or outside, not on earth or in the sky; neither by a man nor an animal; neither by astra nor by shastra"

As a result he got rather cocky and demanded that humans stop worshiping all other other gods and instead worship only him.  And as sons are fond of doing, his own son Prahlada openly disobeyed him and worshiped Vishnu.

And so the demon king poisoned him... naturally.  But the poison turned to sweet nectar in his sons mouth.
Then he had a herd of elephants trample him (not the greatest of fathers).... and again Prahlada survived.
Next he was locked in a room with venomous snakes... and again he lived.

So finally being the crappiest father ever, he ordered his son to sit in the lap of Holika (the demon kings sister, and the boys aunt) and they would both be burned in a pyre, but of course Holika had also been blessed by the Brahma to be immune to fire....of course..... Hiranyakashipu could have been a Bond villain his plans were so elaborate.

And so as the flames rose around them, Prahlada prayed to Vishnu, and was saved... meanwhile Holika was burned to death, apparently her powers faded when she chose to use them for evil.
You can read more about these stories in the Wiki links below... so what does all of that have to do with a drunken festival in Germany?

Ok so each year in India, they celebrate Holi, as the time of renewal and to celebrate Prahladas devotion to Vishnu.  They do this with huge fires, the throwing of the coloured powders, and general celebration.

Importantly, during the festival time many normal social expectations are relaxed for example: ages, genders, social castes, status.
This allows all of the citizens to participate and celebrate together, this is a truly beautiful thing.

So back to Germany.... why does it matter here?
Well mostly it is a great excuse to get out in the summer sun, throw a lot of colourful stuff at attractive people, and to drink quite heavily.   Unfortunately I don't believe that the majority of people who attended have any idea what it was all about.   Or that they would have cared if I had told them.

The process is simple, every hour, the participants rip open some small bags of colour and throw the powder into the air, or at their friends.  The people above wearing facemasks and bandanas are actually really sensible.  I was sick at the time with a serious cough... and it became an awful lot worse because I breathed so much colour.

The festival was truly beautiful though, I just wish I had been in slightly better health before going.

My next post will likely be Rock'n'Heim festival!

References:
Holi (English) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holi
Holi (Deutsch) - http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holi
Hiranyakashipu (English) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiranyakashipu
Hiranyakashipu (Deutsch) - http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiranyakashipu
Prahlada - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prahlada



This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial license.

Palais Garnier (The Paris Opera House), Paris, France

This will be the first of several blog posts which cover my time in Paris earlier this year, there were so many photos and locations that a single blog post would have felt really rushed.

So the first location, Palais Garnier is somewhere I had always wanted to visit, in an online game I played a lot of called LegendMUD the Paris Opera House was described in great detail and the real thing was everything I thought it would be.

Like a lot of things the facade is covered in gold, statues, and busts of various patrons of the opera house.

And yet somehow they it doesn't feel as obnoxious as it does in other places around France.

In fact it could be said that this single building inspired my new love of statue photography haha

The building was originally conceived by Emperor Napoleon III, an interesting fact is that it was due to an attempted assassination as he was leaving the Opera with Empress Eugene, he then declared a competition to design an entirely new Opera House.

In 1860 Charles Garnier won this contest, a site was selected and the land was cleared, however the site contained a huge amount of groundwater which could not be drained.
Garnier then devised a second foundation, in the form of a large concrete tank and watercourse, this would hold the moisture and the weight of the tank helps to stabilize the building.
This is also where the rumors began that the Opera House is built on top of a huge subterranean lake.

During a performance of Helle' in 1896 a tragedy occurred within the Opera house, two of the enormous counterweights which hold the chandelier in place dropped, smashing their way through the ceiling and killing Madame Chomette an audience member.  This tragedy as well as the strange rumors of an underground lake are the two most significant things which inspired Gaston Leroux to write The Phantom of the Opera.

I don't think I really have much more to add at this point, since we didn't take a formal tour so I missed out on all of the usual interesting tales about the building itself.

It is definitely an amazing building to walk through though, every corner and surface contains some beautiful artwork, or sculpture, and for the massive number it still doesn't feel obnoxious like the Palace of Versailles.

So much beauty in one place was probably the first time I really felt this way in Europe to be honest.

And so many chandeliers! You would think they would have been a little less excited about them after killing a patron.

Next Blog! - Sacre Coueur and famous graves!

References:
Wikipedia Entry for the Building - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palais_Garnier
Article about The Phantom - http://bit.ly/aZT7Y9
Article about the Chandelier Accident - http://bit.ly/189WiVG
Charlies Garnier - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Garnier_(architect)
Gaston Leroux - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaston_Leroux

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial license.

Carnival of Venice

I have always been fascinated by the Carnival of Venice, it is a long standing tradition which is filled with beauty and luxurious costuming, as well as some of the most spectacular masks of their kind in the world.
Sadly for this year I have missed it, but next year I will absolutely be attending.

The carnival runs around the Lent period, which can get a little confusing since the dates change from year to year... It starts two Fridays before Ash Wednesday and ends the day before Ash Wednesday.

If you are unfamiliar with Lent, it is basically a period where no rich foods should be eaten and no parties or celebrations should take place, it comes from Christianity and was generally to remind people that they do not need such luxuries.

Carnival was basically born out of this, as a way to use all of the foods up, and also to give the community one fantastic party before Lent began.

This is one party which epitomizes everything I love, it has community, amazing outfits, history, passion, and excitement.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_of_Venice

http://www.twilightblue.eu/en/articles/carnival-venice.aspx