Seeing cut stalks of banana plants alongside the road and more vehicles than usual with garlands and sandalwood splatter, I correctly guessed that today is Ayudha Puja. I love how items related to your labor are honored, through careful cleaning and decoration. Flower sellers love this day, as people buy garlands of aesthetic or fragrant flowers to adorn everything from their vehicle (including bicycles, rickshaws and motorcycles) to cement mixers and shop entrances. Palm leaf decorations hang from places, broken dyed green pumpkins litter the road sides, and splats or "v" shaped patterns made from sandalwood paste + vermillion powder adorn windshields and other flat surfaces.
By worshipping the tools of one's profession, it helps point to the divine force behind working behind the tool to help carry out a successful performance. Ayudha Puja is celebrated in different ways around India and is usually celebrated in Tamil Nadu on the 9th day of Navatiri - usually at the end of September or beginning of October.
Visit previous posts from years past on this Hindu festival - 2009 and on the rickshaws, 2008 #1 and #2
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