It's not what you think, but it's not too far off, either. Imagine thousands of sportsfans rushing to catch sight or touch one of these massive 'formula funny cars.' In the Indian version there is no gasoline, the tires are wood and steel, but the fans still run the risk of a good ol' fashioned sports-related auto beheading as one of these 4-ton behemoths careens off the guardrail and heads for the crowd. This very real and very celebrated event happens all over South India on prescribed "race days" drawing thousands of pilgrims into the narrow streets to cheer on the Gods as they roll down main street to do a holy lap around the hood before storming back into the garage for a new paint job and plans for the next racing season. I don't know if there is ever a clear 'winner' as I think it's more of a parade, but if you lose, it's like runnin' with the bulls only crazier. The fenced-in chariot is from Belur in Karnataka State, and is is a 20 ft cube of solid wood, steel, and paint. The smaller two are from Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu and have the stone-temple look. All are several hundred years old and are still in use. But times have merged, and no space is sacred enough. You can see recent advertising crassly plastered on one sandstone landmark, advertising some bodybuilding event coming. I like how they used some stock photos of Arnold Schwarzenegger from the eighties. How retro...
--- aeryk ---
No comments:
Post a Comment