Journalism of Courage
August ends with two very different countries in far corners of the world celebrating two distinct festivals one day after another. While Buddhists in Nepal celebrated Pancha Daan, or the festival of five summer gifts, on August 30, a day later the Spanish town of Bunol celebrated one of the world's most popular food fights, La Tomatina festival in the town of Bunol on August 31. Click through to see some vibrant pictures of the two festivals. (SOurce: AP)
Pancha Daan is known as the festival of five summer gifts, which include rice grains, unhusked rice grains, salt, money and pulses - all of which are needed for one's daily life. These gifts are all donated to the gods and in the name of charity. This can be the five traditional gifts to gifting people some VERY unusual things. This festival falls on triodashi, two days prior to the Father's day (Buwa ko mukh herne din), according to the lunar calendar. (SOurce: AP)
This is a Buddhist festival in which gifts are made by the laity to the monks observed by Buddhists of Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Panauti and Banepa only, especially by Shakyas and Bajracharyas. (Source: AP)
On Panch Dan, Buddhist antiques are displaced and gigantic effigies of Dipankar are paraded around the town. Since monastic Buddhism has been long extinct in Nepal, the receivers of the gift today are the Buddhist priests, the Shakyas and the Vajracharyas, who go begging aims to the house of their clients.(SOurce: AP)
The main aspect of the five-day festival is the giving away of five elements of wheat grains, rice grains, salt, money and fruit. (Source: AP)
Thousands of people have pelted each other with tons of ripe tomatoes, creating a red, mushy mess in the annual "Tomatina" street battle in eastern Spain.
At the fiesta in Bunol on Wednesday (August 31), 160 tons of tomatoes were offloaded from six trucks into the crowd packing the town's streets for the hour-long battle that attracts many foreigners.
The fight leaves the participants — many donning swimming goggles to protect their eyes — and the town's streets drenched in red pulp. Organizers then hose the streets down within minutes of the event ending at noon, while participants can use public showers. (Source: AP)
The paid-entry event was inspired by a 1945 food fight between local children in the tomato-producing region. (Source: AP)
La Tomatina is a food fight festival held on the last Wednesday of August each year in the small town of Bunol in Spain. Thousands of people make their way from all corners of the world to fight in the 'World's Biggest Food Fight'. (Source: AP)
Since 2013 official ticketing has been in place to limit the number of people participating in the event. Now only lucky 20,000 people get to take part in this event every year. (Source: AP)
The festival begins in the morning every year at around 11 when many trucks heave loads of tomatoes into the centre of the town, Plaza del Pueblo. The tomatoes usually come from a nearby town known as Extremadura, where they are available at cheaper price. (Source: AP)
The signal for the beginning of the great tomato fight is the firing of water cannons, and the madness then thrives on. (Source: AP)
However, according to traditional practice the festival should not begin until one brave enthusiast climb to the top of a two-story high, greased-up wooden pole and secures the ham kept at the top of it. As the process takes a long time and the elevation is quite difficult, the festival starts despite securing the meat. (Source: AP)
The grand fight usually ends after a marathon hour and cleaning process begins right away. Fire trucks are usually used to clear the red mess. (Source: AP)
Though there is no certain evidence how this mega madness originated, the popular belief is that annoyed townspeople attacked the city councilmen with tomatoes during a town celebration during 1944-45. (Source: AP)
The festival is in honour of the town's patron saints, Luis Bertran and the Mare de Deu dels Desemparats (Mother of God of the Defenseless), a title of the Virgin Mary. (Source: AP)
