Hare Krishna festival in Birmingham

As I mentioned in my previous post we went to Birmingham to see an Artemisia Gentileschi painting. We then wandered around,

past the Anthony Gormley scultpture

which has been there for years and is always worth stopping to have a good look at.

We then saw a float in the distance and could not resist to go and investigate as we love that kind of thing

a Hare Krishna float

tied to two ropes which were  being pulled by lots of people.

Ahead of the float, people would sweep the street so that it passed on clean ground

The image of their spiritual leader

The beating of drums

and dancing

the float the center of the procession

Another smaller float

geing pulled by children this time

preceded by sweeping 

The broom would change hands every few minutes, so it must be considered an honour to do this

We had seen some stalls and loads of chairs being set up earlier as we passed the library and realised that it must have been connected to the festival so decided to retrace our steps and go and investigate.

 

In the meantime, if you want to know more about the library, you can go here

There were various stalls around the library, including one that said Free Vegetarian Food. We assumed that the free food would be for those taking part in the festival, so we went and bought ourselves some samosas and spring rolls

A lot of mouths to feed

and sat here, to eat and wait for the procession to arrive. We then had a piece of chocolate cake each. Just as we finished, a lady who had been sitting at the front came and said that we should go and help ourselves to food. We said that we were not Hare Krishna and did not feel we could impose. She said the food was for everyone. We smiled. Five minutes later she arrived with two plates stacked with food for us. We thanked her and even though we were full we ate our second meal. I then went and had a chat with her and asked her the name of one of the puddings that we were given because it was what we call in Greece, halva. Apparently it has the same name in India.

There was music and dancing at the front

and around us.

And speeches.

Near by a stage had been set up

A car arrived - there was loads of unloading

and then the stage was blocked by a piece of cloth as they were setting things up

and finally all was revealed, including the life-like statue of the spiritual leader.

There were offeting of various fruit. Also, people would ask for a piece of fruit as I guess, they felt it was blessed by being on the stage

shoes were taken off

and people prayed.

The whole square was buzzing with life, and everyone looked so happy. We had been made to feel very welcome and the positive feeling around the place was infectious. We had such a good time and it was good to find out about people's faith.

But, all good things must come to an end, and it was time for us to catch our train. We walked towards the train station, past the wonderful fountain in front of the town hall, and headed for home.