TABLA COMPARATIVA ENTRE LOS GRUPOS PRINCIPALES DE COLGAJOS. 96

The theme ‘closeness and connectedness to God’ is a subjective feeling whereby an individual feels a sense of union with the Supreme Being. This feeling is a personal outcome from participating in the Festival. It is a mental process capable of causing a psychological change for the participants. This theme emerged from the data analyses of six interviews. The views of the representatives are expressed in Box 4.6.

Box 4.6: Quotations from the RAs relating to the theme ‘closeness and connectedness to God’

The journey to and from Ganga Talao

ORA2

“…they are merged with the Almighty…people feel it, they have the vibration: the vibration means you are merged with your mind through songs, through practicing the role of a participant who walk, the role of the devotee, so you have lots of positive energy renewed and all the negative energies are defeated.”

ORO1

“…when someone is praying there are things that help him to get deeper in his meditation. The bhajans [religious songs], the words in the songs, drive them spiritually. Yes these are core religious experiences.”

ORO5

“…everyone does not see spirituality or religiousness from the same point of view. This depends on the family background, education and also on the formation they receive in their home and from their gurus.”

Box 4.6 (continued): Quotations from the RAs relating to the theme ‘closeness and connectedness to God’

The visit to Ganga Talao

ORA1

“When participants who walk reach Ganga Talao, they go to the lake to collect the sacred water which they will bring to their place of residence and thereafter they use the water for the Char Pahar ki Pooja. But before leaving Ganga Talao with the water, they have to get the blessings of Lord Shiva and…in the temple…participants who walk…pours the holy water on the Shivling. At Ganga Talao…they visit nearly all the temples…and at the same time they listen to bhajans and Kirtans which the

[organisation] prepares and organises for the participants who walk.”

ORA3

“Reaching Ganga Talao, they [participants who walk] collect the water and pray…The objective is not Ganga Talao…everybody goes to Ganges or Banaras in India to collect the water and offer it to Lord Shiva.”.

ORO5 “But once there [Ganga Talao], we forget this sacrifice…It’s like we are one with the

Supreme. It’s extraordinary, formidable what we feel once reaching at Grand Bassin.”

The Char Pahar ki Pooja

ORA2

“We celebrate it [the Festival] in the homage of Lord Shiva through prayers; we are praying to all gods and goddesses…In a way, it is a contribution of the participants who walk through their prayers and the rituals for the wellbeing of human being, nature and beyond that…you are merged with the Almighty. Almighty is manifesting. Especially in this temple, we have lots of manifestations that you with your naked eye you can see, the presence of the Almighty, how he is manifesting…”

ORA3

“…they offer to Shiva all throughout the night during the 4 phases of 3 hours…there is what, water…First you do the abhishek, means you do the cleansing…through water of course, you use honey, you use clarified butter ghee, and evidently you use bel leaf, you use sugar and curd.”

ORO2

“…he [the participant who walk] will be complete…This is something personal...he feels the presence of Shiv, some even dreams…He closes his eyes and he sees a lot of things.”

The participants are able to experience ‘closeness and connectedness’ to Lord Shiva when taking part in the three components of the Festival, that is the journey to and from Ganga Talao, the visit to Ganga Talao and the Char Pahar ki Pooja, as noted by the representatives of the RAs. According to ORO5, ‘religious demographics’ influences the core religious experiences. The religious demographics are the religious foundation, characteristics and background of a person. This implies that the family background, level of education and teachings can potentially influence decisions on how to participate in the Festival, for example it can influence whether someone decides to walk or not, whether to attend the Char Pahar ki Pooja or not, and so on. Based on the level of knowledge, values and observance, every individual is bound to have different religious experiences as indicated by ORO5. This means that the principles instilled in a person has a bearing on his/her religious practices, level of commitment and feeling to be close to God, and so, is likely to influence his/her core religious experiences.

For the journey to and from Ganga Talao, participants who walk have the feeling of being merged with Lord Shiva (ORA2). Through such feelings, they are able to feel close and connected with the Supreme God leading them to experience vibration. Vibration in this context relates to the spiritual experiences of the participant being merged with God through songs, thereby renewing their positive energy, as identified by ORA2. This state of ‘closeness and connectedness’ to Lord Shiva

can therefore potentially enhance the existential religious experiences and evoke self-transcending experiences. The transcending experiences are those experiences which are beyond the limits of an ordinary experience that the individuals encounter, and which allows them to surpass themselves. For instance, the hymns to praise Lord Shiva and the prayers that someone carries out help them to attain a deep meditation state (ORO1). In essence, these religious activities allow the individual to feel immersed with the Supreme divinity.

During the visit to Ganga Talao, the participants are able to experience proximity to God once they set foot at the sacred site (ORO5). They also carry out religious activities/devotional practices such as collecting the sacred water, listening to religious songs and offering the collected water to and praying to Lord Shiva (ORA1 and ORA3). These devotional practices have symbolic significance for the participants. Whilst ORO5 focussed on the psychological effect the participant experience at the site, both ORA1 and ORA3 put emphasis on the physical activities they undertake at the site that trigger the religious experiences. In essence, both types of feelings give rise to extraordinary (positive and surprising) experiences. For instance, participants who walk have an extraordinary experience on reaching the sacred site in that, although they must be tired from their journey on foot, they forget their pain and feel a sense of belonging to the sacred site and become immersed with their feeling of ‘closeness and connectedness’ to God. They are also able to show their religious commitment and loyalty to Lord Shiva and towards their religion.

For the Char Pahar ki Pooja, the prayers are carried out in four segments of three hours (ORA3) for a period of twelve hours starting from 18 00 to 06 00. During this final set of prayers at the conclusion of the Festival, participants perform rituals and the Shivling, the representation of Lord Shiva, is cleansed with sacred water, honey, ghee, sugar, curd and bel leaves (ORA3). In performing these physical activities, the participants have the opportunity to symbolically bath Lord Shiva and feel connected to him. Some witness manifestations and feel that they are merged with God (ORA2). Also, during the Char Pahar ki Pooja the participants, closing their eyes as part of the prayers, feel the presence of Lord Shiva or may even dream of Him (ORO2). Through their involvement in the prayers within the religious settings, the participants feel connected to Lord Shiva and as a result they can experience transcendence and have the opportunity to reconnect with their religious values, identity and belief system. As such, undertaking the prayers for the Char Pahar ki Pooja generate flow and numinous experiences that is part of the core religious experience.