IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Queen Marys Road, COVENTRY, CV6 5LL

The 2021 Diwali procession in Coventry makes its way up Foleshill Road. A participant carries a Freedom placard, referring to the liberation of Sita from captivity to the demon king Ravana, a story told in the great Hindu epic The Ramayana and remembered at Diwali, the festival of lights (for a brief introduction, see here https://asiasociety.org/education/ramayana ). Diwali signifies "peace and joy, the victory of good over evil, and light over darkness every day" according the Hindustan Times https://www.hindustantimes.com/lifestyle/festivals/diwali-2021-significance-history-date-time-puja-muhurat-and-all-you-need-to-know-101635849456204.html . It is celebrated on the 15th day of the Kartik month in the Hindu lunar calendar, which in 2021 fell on the 4th November. Sikhs, Jains and Ravidassias as well as Hindus mark Diwali, or Deepavali as it is also known. The Coventry procession took place in Foleshill three days later. There was a palpable sense of joy that the community could come together again in this way after the restrictions of the coronavirus pandemic - another sense in which freedom was being celebrated. The event was named 'Abundance' and formed part of the 2021 UK City of Culture celebrations; it combined traditional and contemporary elements, with drummers, dancers, street-performers and lantern-bearers. In the background of this photo can be seen the illuminated umbrellas of Cirque Bijou.

Foleshill Road is a significant arterial route north from Coventry city centre.

View from Foleshill Road (B4113).

For more information see Image] and this article in the Coventry Telegraph https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/six-months-left-finish-building-3023372 , which dates from 2012 and states that the planning permission required completion of the building by the end of that year. This photo was taken over ten years later. The building fronts on to Foleshill Road; the side elevation on Blackwell Road is shown here.

Construction of this building seems to have halted. Known as the Edgwick Family & Learning Centre, it was given planning permission in 2005 and work began on decontaminating the site, which had once been occupied by a battery factory. https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/six-months-left-finish-building-3023372 Building progress has been very slow, and when this photo was taken in July 2021 the work was far from complete.

The Kurdistan Tandoori Naan takeaway on Foleshill Road has, on its side wall, a ghost sign for Spratt's Dog Food, the Spratt's name forming its distinctive terrier shape. Wikipedia tells us that Spratt's was founded in London around 1860 by the American James Spratt, and that the company pioneered hoarding or billboard advertisements in Britain and was one of the most heavily advertised brands in the early 20th century https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spratt's .

This place of worship is called Jagat Guru Valmik Ji Maharaj Temple and is dedicated to the sage and poet Valmiki, author of the Ramayana, the epic which tells of Prince Rama liberating Princess Sita from the demon-king Ravana. It occupies a former parcel sorting office which was bought by the Valmiki community in 1978; one of their members worked for Royal Mail. A community centre, which is used as a langar hall for serving food, was added ten years later. The Valmikis, like the Ravidassia community Image], have a long history of struggling against caste prejudice and oppression. Both communities combine elements of Sikh and Hindu tradition. The first members of the Valmiki community came to Coventry from northern India in the 1950s. More followed in the 1960s, many from Kenya, which they were forced to leave after the country became independent of Britain. The temple website gives a history of the community in Coventry http://mvscoventry.org.uk/?page_id=74633.

The Bethel New Life Apostolic Church occupies a former Methodist church erected in 1880, which replaced one built by the Free Methodists in 1837 on Carpenter's Lane, the earlier name of Station Street West. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/warks/vol8/pp382-396