A temple in the village

The bell rang
It is from the nearby temple.
Normally the temple chores start with the opening of the door with a bell.It is also a signal to the nearby people to wake up and start their day.
Even for the roosters!
Ladies wake up first to take the broom and clean the premises,take bath and enter the kitchen.Men wake up after sometime to read the newspaper sipping a cup of hot tea or coffee.
The backgroud sounds of the village is soothing with cyclebells and bullock cart noises.
Stray dog barking will be very unfrequent because the dogs are lazy in the morning.They become vigilant only when a stranger pass by,and the barking is often triggered by an oversmart young dog and followed by the others only to convince their masters that they are alert.
The temple is always the capital of the village.The priest is the advisor for everybody.He accepts the offering to god from women and keeps the stuff in front of the deity with his lips always chanting sacred manthra.
The main pooja is not necessarily attended by everybody.May be less than half a dozen people will be there and majority will be old ladies.
On auspecious days there will be more people coming to the temple.The priest will have hectic activity these days.He will have to attend to each and every visitor and distribute the holy water and sandal paste among them.The water is poured to their right hand for drinking.The sandalwood paste is for making a mark at the forehead.Saffron powder is also given sometimes.A hindu is always identified by the mark on the forehead.
The yearly festival is the main event in the temple as far as the people are concerned.The deity will be taken around the village to bless the people at their doorsteps.The houses will be decorated with palm leaves and plantain trees.
Ladies and children will wear new dresses.
"Ponkala" is a cooking ritual performed by women.They cook rice mixed with jaggery and scraped coconut and offer to god.
At night there will be dance and music upto late night and the festival will conclude with fireworks.