A Glamorous Easter

I must start off by saying that my Easter mass/service tops all of yours’ that are reading this. We went to this octagonal church in Hyderabad for a 10:30 pm mass Saturday night, but we were actually outside. There were thousands of picnic chairs, the altar area was coated in lights, and there was a huge banner that was covered by a piece of cloth. Everything about the mass was fairly common until the Alleluia came…The entire front of the altar lit up with flashing lights while the bells rang and the chorus sang Alleluia, also uncovering the huge banner that depicted an angel and Jesus exalting, “Alleluia, Alleluia. Jesus has risen!” My very own Jesus Christ Superstar mass on Easter eve!

Hours after when it was actually morning, we headed off for an extremely long bus ride, but it was a wonderful one filled with tunes and thought! I actually enjoy bus rides or car rides or whatever type of road trip mechanism, because it gives me time to listen to music, to look out the window, to think, etc. Our first stop was a Jain temple, which I didn’t even realize we were going to. Unfortunately, I was not allowed inside since I was wearing shorts (it was worth it for the amount my legs did not sweat today) so I enjoyed the environment outside of the temple. I heard though, that the Jain temple is 2000 years old, although it has been renovated quite a bit. I’m joyful that we went because my close friend, Vilpul is Jain, and he shares his religion with me often. They strongly believe in non-violence, which of course, I think is absolutely lovely.

The next place that we visited was Warangal, which is the ruin of ancient dynasties. It felt as though we were in Rome with all of the ancient ruins, and then when we visited Hanamkonda, which is another ruin, we felt like we were in Africa! You get the best of the entire world in India it seems. The only qualm that I have with today was that when we went to visit a temple, the floor was made of black marble/granite (I have no idea really) and it was baking in the over 100 degree heat, so that when I took off my shoes, my feet were burning! It’s a sign of respect to take off one’s shoes when visiting a temple since the ground is holy, which I have no problem with, but then don’t make the ground black!!!! And perhaps situate the ancient temple in the shade of some reliable trees!!!

But really, the most exciting part of my Easter Sunday was my Jesus Christ Superstar Easter Vigil mass that I had the privilege of attending. No one does it like India.