Last week I published a photo of a procession at the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church of St Mary in Kuravilangad, in the Kerala region of India, in which the sacred images were carried by elaborately dressed elephants. Since then, the following picture, which shows them more closely, has popped up several times on Facebook.
In the background, we can see a metal framework covering the façade of the church; this is to support a very large number of bright electric lights, which look like this at night.
I was told once that in India, electricity is fairly expensive, and the use of lots of bright colored electric lights (both inside and outside a church) is the local way of giving something very precious to God.
A reader also gave a few links to a blog which shows more pictures of the same procession and celebration, which you can see here, here and here, an incredibly festive and impressive display. Note the many different processional Crosses, the colored umbrellas, and the float in the form of a boat which they somehow manage to get into the church itself.
In the background, we can see a metal framework covering the façade of the church; this is to support a very large number of bright electric lights, which look like this at night.
I was told once that in India, electricity is fairly expensive, and the use of lots of bright colored electric lights (both inside and outside a church) is the local way of giving something very precious to God.
A reader also gave a few links to a blog which shows more pictures of the same procession and celebration, which you can see here, here and here, an incredibly festive and impressive display. Note the many different processional Crosses, the colored umbrellas, and the float in the form of a boat which they somehow manage to get into the church itself.
