Ramadan sunset in Parepare

I was in Sulawesi right in the middle of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and during this time of course, devout Muslims need to fast through the daylight hours.

I'd been a little concerned that it might have impinged on my own desires to feed and water myself whenever I felt the need, but in practice there was no problem. There are a fair few non-Muslims around, much goodwill and tolerance, and enough food and drink vendors willing to service us.

The bulk of the Parepare locals were observing though, and as sunset approached, the excitement was palpable.

It was five minutes to six. The seafront food stalls were full of happy groups, anticipating the party to come. The cooks were cooking up a storm.

Still one minute to go. The food is out there on the tables, right under people's noses. They're holding their nerve.

Suddenly a siren sounds and everyone's into it! It's a six o'clock swill, so to speak!

Except for the group below, who obviously were last to place their orders, and were still sitting there patiently, awaiting their turn.

Churches, mosques, and temples of South India - Temples

Here's the Sri Chamundeswari Temple near Mysore,which is a temple to Shiva. Shiva always has his bull, Nandi, nearby, so that's him below, in 5m high statue form.







The nice little collection of musical ladies is at Aazhimala Temple in Kerala.

Then there's the Shri Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Trivandrum, and the Suchindram Temple, near Kanyakumari - currently undergoing some maintenance or restoration work.



The majority of the population are in fact Hindu, despite the fairly large numbers of Christians and Muslims in the south.

Churches, mosques, and temples of South India - Mosques

About 24% of Keralans are muslims. Here are the mosques in Vizhinjam (just south of Kovalam Beach) and Odayam (just north of Varkala).