HISTORIC KAVADY FESTIVAL OBSERVED BY TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DEVOTEES IN SOUTH AFRICA

SCORCHING HEAT NO DETERRENT TO KAVADY DEVOTEES

By Subry Govender

Fresh from the celebrations of the Pongal festival a week ago, tens of thousands of people of Indian-origin in South Africa took part in the annual holy Kavady ceremony all over the country on Sunday, January 24.

Despite the severe and scorching heat, the faithful followers and believers - including little boys and girls - turned up in huge numbers at temples all over South Africa to carry the colourful Kavady on their shoulders and pull the beautifully-decorated chariots. The devotees packed holy temples in towns such as Stanger, Tongaat, Shakas Kraal, Verulam, Phoenix, Chatsworth, Durban, Isipingo, Umkomaas, Umzinto, Port Shepstone, Pietermaritzburg, Dundee and Ladysmith in the KwZulu-Natal Province of the country where majority of the people of Indian-origin reside. Thousands of devotees also carried the Kavady in the Johannesburg-Pretoria region and in Cape Town, East London and Port Elizabeth.

One of the busiest Kavady ceremonies was held at the Umdloti Drift Subramaniar Alayam in the town of Verulam, and 35km north of Durban. Here more than 1 300 devotees carried the Kavady with the help of hundreds of officials and volunteer workers.

The seering heat took its toll on many devotees but despite this, the devotees stood patiently in long lines to participate in the prayer services. The beautiful Kavady music that rang out loud and clear also helped the devotees to bear the scorching heat. There were also a number of people who provided the devotees with cool drinks and milk to help them in over-coming the scorching heat. A security company in Verulam also provided a first aid station to assist those overcome by the heat.

One of the officials and chairman of the Alayam, Dr Chandru Kisten, said the large turn out of the people at the Kavady ceremony demonstrated that the people of Indian-origin were proud of the spirituality, traditions, languages and cultures bequeathed to them by their indentured forefathers and mothers. "We find that in addition to the regulars, thousands of others are becoming more and more conscious of their spirituality, cultures, languages and traditions and want to pass this onto their children and grand-children," he said.

He said all linguistic groups participated in the Kavady. They included those whose mother tongues were Tamil, Hindi, and Gujerati. "We have found that in addition to the devotees, there are a number of other people, including those in businesses, help in making this Kavady ceremony a magnanimous success.

"We are truly grateful to all the people who realise that it's of utmost importance for us to promote the rich spirituality, traditions, languages and cultures of our ancestors." A volunteer at the Kavady ceremony, Mr Barry Naicker, said it was wonderful atmosphere to see so many thousands of people participating in the Kavady ceremony. "This just demonstrates that we must be proud of our rich traditions, languages and cultures in our new, non-racial democratic counry. "Our cultures go back tens of thousands of years and we must cherish this," he said. - ends (Subry Govender Jan 24 2016)