Boita Vandana (Boat worship)
A traditional cultural festival celebrated in Odisha (the state in India I come from) to commemorate maritime trade between the ancient Kalinga kingdom and SE Asian countries around 200-300 BCE. Children and wives of the brave sailors would bid adieu to their sailor/traders men-folk as they embarked on these often hazardous sail boat journeys to sell their stuff and bring back wealth of distant lands back to Odisha (Kalinga)
This is a shot of my mother celebrating this sacred festival in Canada
