Inja Holiday: Kathakali and Thali

Thali is a traditional Indian dinner served on a banana leaf. It consists of many different dishes, all served in small portions together on the leaf. Yummy...

Kathakali is a traditional Indian show, consisting of drum beats and cymbal chimes, but no dialogue. The acting is performed purely through facial expressions, hand gestures, feet gestures, and body movement. I think all Kathakali plays are based on Hindu stories, but I could be wrong.
One of the local hotels put on a Kathakali and Thali night last night. The show was based around Lord Vishnu, as you will see...

The character below is Hirnyakasipu. He is a Giant King, and is very powerful. Lord Brahma (one of the main Hindu Gods, known as the Creator) gave him three blessings:

1. He could be killed by neither man nor animal
2. He could be killed neither in the daytime, nor at night
3. He could be killed neither on Earth, nor in the Heavens, nor in the Underworld.

No wonder he looks happy:

This is Pralahda, the only son of the Hirnyakasipu:


The Giant King sent him to a guru so that he would become educated in the ways and history of the giant people:

The guru, however, had some problems with Pralahda. The boy had become a devotee of Lord Vishnu (another main Hindu God, known as the Protector). Hirnyakasipu was very angry that his son worshipped Lord Vishnu, instead of the Giant King himself. (In his rage, he gave the poor guru a beating, and threatened to kill him. Poor guru...). Pralahda remained serene and told Hirnyakasipu that Lord Vishnu was everywhere:


The Giant King laughed this off and challenged Pralahda thus: Is Lord Vishnu in this pillar? (he seemed to say...)
Pralahda answered Yes, so the next morning (at the crack of dawn, incidentally) Hirnyakasipu drew his sword and split the pillar in two; he wanted to prove that the Creator was not inside.
Boy, was he in for a shock! In a flash of light a creature, half-man, half-lion, jumped out of the pillar. The creature is called Narashima. (nara means man, and shima means lion):


Narashima is actually one of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu himself.
Uh-oh, I sense trouble --- it's dawn and there is a non-human, non-animal at large. Do you think the first two blessings from Brahma have been invalidated?
Narashima grabbed Hirnyakasipu and held him in his lap. (Yikes!! In his lap?? That's neither on Earth nor in the heavens or the underworld...)

Narashima proceeded to disembowel the Giant King with his sharp claws.


Then he ate Hirnyakasipu's innards. Yum...


Lord Vishnu then makes Pralahda King of the Giants, because he has been such a faithful devotee of the Hindu God. The End.