The Vel Vel Story
Collective Human Faith is a dense sheath of potent energy in it’s very existence. There is very little that doesn’t succumb to the enormous power of it, very little that doesn’t comply with it. One such grand instance of faith & it’s practice is The Vel Vel Festival that continues to unfold new facets of religious penance & retribution,
Collective Human Faith is a dense sheath of potent energy in it’s very existence. There is very little that doesn’t succumb to the enormous power of it, very little that doesn’t comply with it. One such grand instance of faith & it’s practice is The Vel Vel Festival that continues to unfold new facets of religious penance & retribution,
every year, in Bandel.
It is interesting to observe that - The Divine Scepter, in Hindu mythology, has moral connotations of ‘Good Over Evil’ & ‘Justice’. Starting from Goddess Durga’s Trishul to Murugan’s Vel - Hindu mythology celebrates divine retribution, in this physical manifestation of it more than once. Owing much to it’s micro-cultural diversity, different parts of India are seen celebrating this at different times.
One such celebration is the Thaipoosam or Adi Vel. The ‘Vel’, in Hindu mythology, is known to be the signature weapon of an Indian War-God, Murugan (as known in and around Tamil Nadu. Also known as Karthikeya in other parts of the country). A Devine scepter that was presented to him by his Mother, Goddess Parvathi. The festival commemorates this very giving. Here, Vel becomes a God in itself.
The Vel Vel Festival - is a rendition of the same festival.
When a religious practice is moulded and presented in the garb of spiritual intermingling, over years, persistently - fanaticism is born.
Writing by Alisha Das
