The craziness of Mangalore: Kola Festival

Here he is biting off the head while it's alive and chowing down :)

Here he is dancing before he had his lunch...

Yesterday I experienced something that I will probably never see again and it is one of those things that I am ok never seeing again. It was sooo gruesome. My Sunday morning started at Dharma Jyothi, an NGO that helps empower women through self-help groups and helps educate them with vocational skills and they help people sponsor children and watch some of them, it was Women's Day and so we went to support them. We started by watching a street play that some students from Roshni were putting on about people with disabilities and helping them out. The whole thing was in Kannada but the crowd was enjoying and learning from it so it was fun to watch. Then we sat in a tent and listened to various women speak, about what I don't know because none of it was in English, but it felt good to be there anyway and support their cause. They enjoyed having us there even if we were only there for a few hours. Then we left to see a Hindu festival...we were not fully aware of what we were getting ourselves into at this point...
We arrive at a temple that is right on the highway and they sit us up front. This festival had been going on since sometime yesterday but at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday it was nearing an end and many people were there. A man was dancing around wearing a banana or coconut leaf skirt over loose pants, no shirt, had his face painted and was waving around fire burning sticks. He was said to be possessed by the spirit of one pariticular god that is special to Mangalore and only some Hindus in Mangalore. So he danced around for a while-I think he had been dancing for a long time before we got there but after maybe an hour of watching him he ran onto the highway. The highway was already blocked off for the festival so no worries there. So ran out and the crowd made a circle around him and passed him a live chicken. [If you have a weak stomach-stop reading now-you'd probably be able to handle it but I could be wrong] Then he proceeded to rip off the feathers and the head and then drink the blood of he chicken! I think he ate some of the chicken as well as drinking the blood. Then he tossed it to the ground and they passed him another one which he did the same thing to...and then another...and another...until he had about 5-6 chickens. He then ripped the chickens open and ate the livers and other assorted parts of this chicken that was alive a few minutes ago. My one friend Emily was sitting in the front row while the rest of us were on chairs behind and she said she saw him rip off the feathers of one chicken and drink some blood from the body and then when he tossed it back down she could see the heart still beating because the feathers were off of its chest and so she had a full view. The guy standing next to me explained that it is hereditary for who gets possessed and does certain festivals. This man has another job but he has to do these festivals because his dad did it and it was passed to him. He has been doing it since he was 14. He also gets fed this barley-esque type food, tender coconut juice and liquor. He can eat as many chickens as he wants until he is satisfied. Once he is satisfied the highway that the temple is next to will not have as many accidents. I think there might be another reason for the festival but I am not sure as the highwasy being safer was the only answer I got. It was a crazy sight to see for sure!
Yesterday was out-of-control and today class seemed a little dull in comparision to watching someone eat a live chicken. I decided to make some chocolate chip cookies today. I gave up packaged cookies for lent and so I havent had any cookies in a long time because I hadn't gottan around to cooking any in a while. So I threw some common cookie ingredients into a bowl and mixed them together and threw them on the frying pan...only one house I've been in so far has had an oven...and started making some delicious cookies. After one batch I decided I needed something more. I chopped up a green chili pepper and put half of it in-half a pepper/8 cookies about. I was slightly scared to try them but I did and they were amazing!! I never ever saw that one coming but they were so good and now I want to go home and make them for everybody! Yum :)