Its the full moon night. In the
north east of India, where there is little air pollution, the moon is
shinning like a huge silver plate. Below, amidst the moonlit paddy
fields, people are celebrating Lakshmi Puja festival.
Essentially a peasant's festival, Lakshmi Poornima (poornima = full moon) is believed to be the night when goddess Lakshmi comes on earth and fills the paddy pods with 'life'. From tomorrow, if you press a pod, white milk will ooze out and in a couple of months, hardened into rice, will be ready for a harvest!
To welcome the goddess, the peasant therefore will offer all he can: coconut sweets, fresh fruits, and rice cakes. He will even paint the steps of his house with rice powder. And once this is done, he will, quite inexplicably, indulge into something not so holy: stealing!
To welcome the goddess, the peasant therefore will offer all he can: coconut sweets, fresh fruits, and rice cakes. He will even paint the steps of his house with rice powder. And once this is done, he will, quite inexplicably, indulge into something not so holy: stealing!
