sufficient to give an idea of the whole; certainly sufficient to give a glimpse of its 'complexity'.
So we thought to tell India in the first person by the people involved in spiritual and religion ritual.
On the occasion of the Indian celebrations in honour of Kumbh Mela
(9 January - 22 February 2001)
The Greatest Festivities in the World
We take up our story when Kumbh Mela, the celebration that takes place every 12 years to evoke the mythical battle for possession of the pitcher containing the essence of immortality, is almost over. Vinod, a small Indian boy, relives the magnificent festivities that he has just witnessed for the first time. Through his eyes, going through the differents moments of his day, we become spectators of this magnificent event that involves everyone and everything.
The Holy City
We are in Benares, the holy city on the banks of the Ganges where people go to purify themselves and, in some cases, to die in the hope of freeing themselves from the reincarnation cycle. Here, in"the place of no return" where take place the most intimate rites concerning life and death, where funeral pyres burn continuously, we are guided by two sadhu (saints) through a human landscape of degradation and misery, horror and stupor. Sitau and Vasuveda will introduce us to the mysteries, richness and complexity of the Hindu world.
The Rainbow Men
A women's sight through the day of Holi: Suman, a Brahman widow, comments for us the popular feast day of northern India dedicated to Krishna, representing the symbol of renewal and of a brief return to primitive caos. On 'that' day, men, women, children, rich and poor, pariahs and privileged, animals, trees and objects are splashed with colour. Fragments of daily condition of women in India are opposed to the events of the Holi day, when women for one time do not submit to the men, as if it was just a way to "change everything in order to change nothing". Chiudi