Manjinikara festival is a festival commemorating the death of St. Ignatius Elias III who came to India to propagate and encourage peace in the Malankara church. His arrival and subsequent stay ended with his departure from this world. The place where he breathed his last and where he was eventually buried became a pilgrim centre called Manjinikara which is now visited by lakhs of pilgrims every year. The festival this year culminated yesterday with Holy Qurbana.
The actual arrival of the Holy Father was at an important time in the history of the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church in Kerala. He tried his best to broker peace between the warring factions in Kerala. His genuine wish to bring everyone together was seen as something which could only come from the mind of a genuine church father.
His death was seen as a special event foretold by himself and for which those around him were already ready. His departure also led to a host of sightings and miracles which made the local populace believe that he was special. This then became popular among the people of the church and they came from far and wide during the festival time. The universal Syriac Orthodox Church then declared the Holy father as a saint of the church. The flow of pilgrims has only increased every year despite the hardships that one has to endure during the pilgrimage.
For me the festival time clearly reflects two things. One is the hope of the people who walk and two is the hospitality of the people who live on both sides of the road to Manjinikara. People come from the Northern and Southern parts of Kerala and also from outside Kerala to join in this walk of faith. The walking distance could be anywhere between 30- 150 KM’s, in some cases upto 220 KM's and even more. The people on the way stop to rest, pray and eat food. This is done at churches and at houses which happen to be on the way of the pilgrimage.
The walk starts from the local church and will be done in groups so that people can take care of each other. Groups include children, women and men. This is not an exclusive walk of men or of any category of people. Rather one will see the young and old, women and men and poor and rich walking the distance. Everyone will have their own prayers, wishes and tasks to get done and they will intercede accordingly. The walk involves sacrifice, pain, risks and an effort to keep going. Many people get pain in their legs and body, get swollen feet, feel feverish, exhausted and wasted. Yet they continue walking to the destination with a single minded devotion that come what may, they should reach. Women and children are exposed to not just the sun but to the dangers of being outside and in full public view and yet all fears are set aside knowing that their beloved saint is ever interceding for them. The pilgrims definitely have their own set of problems.
The hospitality on the other hand is offered by those who are staying on both sides of the road en route to the pilgrim centre. These are people belonging to different religions, different churches and different castes. They prepare all sorts of refreshments for the pilgrims and offer everything free of cost. Food, shelter and basic amenities are all offered to absolute strangers. This time I also happened to be home in Thiruvalla while the pilgrims passed. I therefore opened our house to perfect strangers. I did not know even one of them and yet at the end of the day they also felt like family. I had my own reservations just like anyone else would have before opening their entire house to perfect strangers. But the reservations were soon submerged in the stronger emotion of hospitality which should be offered to guests. This is the hospitality I received while I went to different churches, houses, seminaries, places and met total strangers who offered their resources without even battling an eye lid. It is the hospitality I received from my teachers, colleagues, students, friends, family, bishops and a host of other people. This is also the hospitality I enjoyed while walking to Manjinikara myself. It was a cultural miracle where people simply helped each other and asked for prayers from one another. In an age where we suspect the goodness in one another, this is something which simply defies logic. Why would one open their house to a complete and total stranger/s and yet that is what hundreds and thousands of people do. Churches also become the true model of hospitality they are supposed to be, where anyone who comes is offered water, food, rest, medicine and anything they would need to continue their journey.
The entire pilgrimage is laced with miracles. It starts with a miracle and ends with a miracle. The miracles include old people walking for long distances, children tagging along, the weak refusing to stop even when they feel very tired, the love shown by people in several villages and towns, the hospitality of house holds, the reaching at the final destination and the individual changes experienced after reaching and well after the pilgrimage as well. People expect a visible change in their lives and they walk interceding to St. Elias III that these visible changes may be made possible through his intercession. Just as we make sense of Jesus of Nazareth we make sense of Elias of Mardin.
Those who walk are not just from one church but belong to various churches and even religions. The destination which is a hill near Pathanamthitta is serene, quiet, calm and spiritual. It is apt for meditation and healing. But the pilgrim season makes it a different period when so many people commune to the hilly spiritual centre at the same time. The amazement of the pilgrimage is so much that one does not know which one to concentrate on, the faith of the people or the hospitality of the onlookers. Both in their own way constitute the foundation of religion and humanity.
Perhaps this is what society is missing these days. It also makes a strong case for the conduct of such festivals and the pilgrimages accompanying it. It tells people that hardships are a part of life and one should not shy away from it. It reminds us that there is goodness in us and we will express it if given the opportunity. It is just that we are given the wrong opportunities and are in the wrong places. I am thankful to St. Elias for having made the first journey, the church that encouraged others to then make it, the people who came out in large numbers to make it, the larger society which embraced it and the vast number of people who popularized it. I have again faith in people that come what may we still are not the beasts we are made out to be and there is something positive about us despite all the negative reports. The Holy father who chose to travel to Malankara, intercede for us.
Showing posts with label Manjinikara. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Manjinikara. Show all posts
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Saturday, June 9, 2012
How a Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Christian can make a difference for the environment
The United Nations based World Environment Day (WED) was held on Wednesday, June 5th in several parts of the world including India. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) which is instrumental in the conduct of the WED has as this year’s theme “Green Economy: Does it include you?” The Indian media was filled with interviews with environmentalists and some had a list of human made ecological disasters in India. On the whole it was a day when we were all encouraged to do something for our mother earth and for the generations to come.
Solutions for the crisis that we are facing include decreasing our consumption of various commodities which make use of water, natural resources and fuel to be delivered to us. Local produce will not only ensure food security but will also ensure that less resources will be used and less communities will be robbed of what is theirs to use. Other local solutions include using modes of transportation which do not run on petrol and diesel, using less electricity and water, managing waste and recycling.
As churches are also encouraged to set apart a day for the environment and remind people of the importance of integrating the gospel learning's in our lives, it is important to reflect on what each church can contribute to this. The Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church in India is seen as traditional, old, ritualistic, repeating, and rigid by other members of society. Yet all these very nomenclatures may eventually show us something which will help us to see the environment as part of our lives and therefore as “our environment.”
For the purpose of looking into one’s own church for offering contributions for WED, one can look at four points. One, reducing our carbon foot print, two, reducing the usage of water and electricity, three, using natural energy and four, recycling and renewing. All these four things have corresponding contributions from our ancestors in the church.
Festivals in the JSOC are a part and parcel of the church. Festivals are conducted in the name of several saints and St. Mary. One of the significant parts of a festival is the long walk undertaken by the faithful to the said church. This is a walk which is done with meagre resources and the only fuel burnt is "one’s own." One such walking pilgrimage that I have witnessed and been part of several times is the Manjinikara festival in Kerala. People walk for several kilometres together to reach the destination. This walk of faith uses as less as possible. People are in fact told that one should survive on the least possible means. The essence of this walk of faith is to consume as less as possible. If more people were to take part in these festivals and make this as a part of their very lives, we would be able to reduce our carbon foot print significantly.
People earlier also believed in communitarian live styles. Everything was done together. House prayers were conducted by all in the family sitting together in one room and in the process switching everything else off. The communitarian lifestyle thus ensured single energy use in comparison to multiple energy uses. People were very conscious of the energy used and always wanted to consume and use less.
Natural sources of power were used abundantly. The sun as a source of power is indeed one of the strongest sources. People slept early and woke up early and in essence made use of solar power as much as possible. They used natural light for many things. Everything was put to use. The sun was used to dry coconuts and every perceivable thing which could be used as a food source. All the food was shared between humans and animals (cattle, dogs) and the rest was returned to the soil to provide manure for new life and supporting existing life. Instead of air conditioners for cooling down rooms, trees were planted and they did the job of two or three air conditioners at a time.
Finally houses in the old days were recycling centres and women were at the heart of recycling. Everything was re-used. Newspapers, bread packets, rubber bands, bottles, ropes, and wires were all reused for other purposes. Even old t-shirts were reused as table wiping cloth. Everything had a coming back effect. It was as if the ball had a strong thread attached to it. Whatever was thrown came back and was used again.
In John 6:1-13 Jesus feeds the five thousand plus crowd with five loaves and two fish. Everything here was also highly environment friendly. Jesus shared the little food that was there with everyone. The community sharing of food made sure that very little energy was consumed to make it. What remained was shared again. Jesus’ model suggests a “sharing without ceasing” and has something in common with the church understanding of "liturgy after liturgy". Sharing simply cannot end. The Holy Qurbana or communion in the JSOC is also like this. The bread is single bread which is shared among all. The bread for the next communion is made from the part of the dough from the previous communion. This is the yeast which works on the bread. Here the concept of sharing without ceasing continues. The church thus contains the secret to renewing, recycling and reforming.
Therefore a church member can say that I belong to a green economy. But the challenge is to bring the past into the present. Instead of saying I belonged to the green economy or my fore mothers and fathers belonged to a green economy, can we translate this tradition of being green into our own lives? This WED let us take small steps to continue our tradition of sharing without ceasing.
Solutions for the crisis that we are facing include decreasing our consumption of various commodities which make use of water, natural resources and fuel to be delivered to us. Local produce will not only ensure food security but will also ensure that less resources will be used and less communities will be robbed of what is theirs to use. Other local solutions include using modes of transportation which do not run on petrol and diesel, using less electricity and water, managing waste and recycling.
As churches are also encouraged to set apart a day for the environment and remind people of the importance of integrating the gospel learning's in our lives, it is important to reflect on what each church can contribute to this. The Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church in India is seen as traditional, old, ritualistic, repeating, and rigid by other members of society. Yet all these very nomenclatures may eventually show us something which will help us to see the environment as part of our lives and therefore as “our environment.”
For the purpose of looking into one’s own church for offering contributions for WED, one can look at four points. One, reducing our carbon foot print, two, reducing the usage of water and electricity, three, using natural energy and four, recycling and renewing. All these four things have corresponding contributions from our ancestors in the church.
Festivals in the JSOC are a part and parcel of the church. Festivals are conducted in the name of several saints and St. Mary. One of the significant parts of a festival is the long walk undertaken by the faithful to the said church. This is a walk which is done with meagre resources and the only fuel burnt is "one’s own." One such walking pilgrimage that I have witnessed and been part of several times is the Manjinikara festival in Kerala. People walk for several kilometres together to reach the destination. This walk of faith uses as less as possible. People are in fact told that one should survive on the least possible means. The essence of this walk of faith is to consume as less as possible. If more people were to take part in these festivals and make this as a part of their very lives, we would be able to reduce our carbon foot print significantly.
People earlier also believed in communitarian live styles. Everything was done together. House prayers were conducted by all in the family sitting together in one room and in the process switching everything else off. The communitarian lifestyle thus ensured single energy use in comparison to multiple energy uses. People were very conscious of the energy used and always wanted to consume and use less.
Natural sources of power were used abundantly. The sun as a source of power is indeed one of the strongest sources. People slept early and woke up early and in essence made use of solar power as much as possible. They used natural light for many things. Everything was put to use. The sun was used to dry coconuts and every perceivable thing which could be used as a food source. All the food was shared between humans and animals (cattle, dogs) and the rest was returned to the soil to provide manure for new life and supporting existing life. Instead of air conditioners for cooling down rooms, trees were planted and they did the job of two or three air conditioners at a time.
Finally houses in the old days were recycling centres and women were at the heart of recycling. Everything was re-used. Newspapers, bread packets, rubber bands, bottles, ropes, and wires were all reused for other purposes. Even old t-shirts were reused as table wiping cloth. Everything had a coming back effect. It was as if the ball had a strong thread attached to it. Whatever was thrown came back and was used again.
In John 6:1-13 Jesus feeds the five thousand plus crowd with five loaves and two fish. Everything here was also highly environment friendly. Jesus shared the little food that was there with everyone. The community sharing of food made sure that very little energy was consumed to make it. What remained was shared again. Jesus’ model suggests a “sharing without ceasing” and has something in common with the church understanding of "liturgy after liturgy". Sharing simply cannot end. The Holy Qurbana or communion in the JSOC is also like this. The bread is single bread which is shared among all. The bread for the next communion is made from the part of the dough from the previous communion. This is the yeast which works on the bread. Here the concept of sharing without ceasing continues. The church thus contains the secret to renewing, recycling and reforming.
Therefore a church member can say that I belong to a green economy. But the challenge is to bring the past into the present. Instead of saying I belonged to the green economy or my fore mothers and fathers belonged to a green economy, can we translate this tradition of being green into our own lives? This WED let us take small steps to continue our tradition of sharing without ceasing.
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