Monday, March 30, 2015

The Bishnoi tribe welcomed us with opium !



it may seem a little odd but that's just their custom
The Bishnoi people are just being polite and welcoming you to the village
It made me kind of confused to if we should refuse or accept the gesture
While the man went through the process of preparing, in itself worth watching,
he took a small piece of dry opium and smashed it toa powder in a copper bowl
he then added water...then it was filtered through a sieve several times all while he was 
"praying"....the amal is then poured into his cupped hands..
Mr M and I kindly turned down his offer to try and
 watched him drink the precious drops instead
(unfortunaletly I wasn't allowed to get any pictures if the dried opium nor the ceremony)



The name Bishnoi means 29....referring to the 20 Hindu and 9 Muslim principles the tribe lives by
in conclusion
- no killing or eating of animal
- no cutting down of living trees
- and no alcohol consumption


dressed in traditional red dresses and their special jewellery




they keep their villages really clean ...





in 1730 hundreds of Bishnoi people hugged trees trying to stop them from being cut down...
they where all beheaded ! but when the maharaja of Jodphur heard of their sacrifice he 
commanded a stop of both cutting down trees and the beheading of people



how a turban is done....


it looked so easy...


finished ....


yet another wonderful experience in colourful India









No comments:

Post a Comment