Hindu celebration around Mattock Lane

Thousands of people attended the Chariot Festival in West Ealing this morning causing a degree of traffic chaos in surrounding roads.

The colourful event is hosted every year from the Shri Kanagathurkkai Amman (Hindu) Temple and is thought to attract between 5 -10,000 people from all over London.

A chariot carrying their goddess is paraded around a circular route from Chapel Road down the Uxbridge Road, right again into Culmington Road and into Mattock Lane.

Following the chariot, men roll on the floor holding onto coconuts, which play an important part in Hindu rituals.

Other men have hooks attached to their backs which represent the burden of the sins of the world that the gods have to carry.

The parade ended with a festival in Dean Gardens but dispersal of so many people caused congestion around local roads.

14th August 2011