These past couple weeks I've been going to mass here in Mamallapuram. This is what it is like:
The church is rather small, but the congregation of a few hundred overflows into the yard, which is what all the blue plastic chairs are for.
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| the altar boys. |
Notice how the men and women sit separately; the women on Christ's right hand, appropriately enough.
I hope this video works, it's of one of the communion hymns. I adore how Tamil is sing song, and percussive, perfectly accompanied by the drum. I shot this as inconspicuously as I could with my iphone, which did not focus.. those are my blue socked feet at the beginning, we take our shoes off before entering the church here, like Muslims at a mosque:
After mass, there is Marian prayer, like is common in Europe or many parishes stateside. Then, everyone rushes the front to venerate the statues of the Holy Family there:
They touched the table or base of the statues like the girl is doing here. I didn't think to bring a candle with me, and they had none there to buy.
I'll get my own stash for future contingency.
So, that's how rural Catholics - who are mostly converts from lower Hindu castes here, and poor - roll in India. Tomorrow I'll post the shots from the great Shrine of St. Thomas in Madras..
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