At least once a year, Hindu communities celebrate the Divine by parading sacred images from their temples and shrines through the streets. The image's energy blesses the region surrounding the temple, giving devotees an opportunity to have a special darshan, or communion, with the deity. Processions also enable the elderly and infirm, who might not be able to visit the temple, to view and be blessed by the Divine.
It would be physically impossible as well as sacrilegious to remove a temple's primary image from the inner sanctum. Instead, a processional image, called an utsava murti, is created according to the specifications of scriptures. Its form and materials may be quite different from that of the primary image inside the temple. During festivals, devotees mount the utsava murti on a platform that they hoist onto their shoulders or place onto a cart and parade it through the streets. Parade routes are lined with worshippers who reach out toward the image to experience darshan and receive blessings from the deity.
Taking a deity from a temple out into the street symbolizes the opening of the heart and mind of each devotee who participates in the celebration. Much of India's population is poor, and temple festivals enable worshippers to share in the wealth and glory of their Gods. In many ways community wealth, as reflected in the grandeur of its temples and festivals, is viewed as personal abundance. Festivals provide a sense of identity and unity for each member of society regardless of family, income or occupation.
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