LADY OF GINGEE: SOUTH INDIAN DRAUPADI FESTIVALS (59 minutes, 1988)
Available in VHS and DVD

Price: $195.00 + shipping and handling

...describes a Draupadi festival in Tamilnadu (South India). The main celebrations occur in Melacceri, a village in what was once the Nayak kingdom of Gingee. The celebrations open with flag-hoisting and wristlet-tying, continue with bardic recitations of the Tamil Mahabharata (in which Draupadi is a heroine), and include Terukuttu ("village" or "street" dramas), village hero-cult rituals (including "possession"), the construction of large effigies representing sacrifical events from the Mahabharata, and village participation in fire-walking.

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