From The Archives #3

Issue #3 of the "From the Archives" data packets available to members of the Society of International Culture and History.
One of the great points of divergence for human culture during the diaspora was fashion, with colonies embracing a wide variety of clothing styles both new and historical. On Albion, as most colonies established through the Stellar Monarchist League, clothing tended towards historical and conservative styles. While Albion is known for being one of the centers of the post-diaspora Celtic Renaissance, its styles take inspiration from British fashion of Old Earth during the early Space Age and post independence Mars. The long lines and careful tailoring accentuates the tall and lanky builds of Albionese, a product of their planet's lower gravity. Historically in Hindu belief, the union between the gods Shiva and Parvati is said to be harmonious: their combined powers of thought and action bringing fertility and connection to all living things. Yet one day, the god Shiva and Parvati got into an argument about the material world. Shiva said that everything materialistic were just distractions from the true meaning of the universe. Parvati, who governs materialistic aspects and the natural world, was infuriated that her husband belittled her work. To teach Shiva and the world her importance, she disappeared, and the world was into an all-encompassing famine. Shiva's followers and even the other gods begged him for food; but there was none to be found.
Eventually, word spread of a kitchen in a far off city where all could eat their fill. When Shiva arrived searching for food he found the kitchen was owned by his none other than his wife Parvati, in the form of of a woman named Annapurna. Taking the form of a beggar, Shiva begged pleaded for both forgiveness and food. Seeing that her husband had come to understand the importance of the material world, Parvati forgave him and the famine was lifted.
This story is commonly shared on Bhramaputra Prime, critiquing those who isolate themselves too deeply in religion. New colonies are notoriously fragile and cannot allow for its members to begin living in their heads when crops need sowing and buildings need constructing. Shrines to Parvati's aspect Annapurna are common in Bhramaputran kitchens and the Bhramaputran Department of Agriculture famously built a 15m by 15m mosaic of the goddess in their lobby before the entire building was destroyed during the Hand of Shiva. Most colonial expeditions carried with them a wide variety of music considered mainstream at the time of their departure. For other kinds of music, most cultural archives include the most famous works and composers (Beethoven, Mozart, etc) but relatively little beyond that. This song is one of the thousands of choral pieces that were brought to Deseret, part of an explicit policy by colony founders to preserve the art. While Deseretis had a unique heritage in choral music through the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the choir pieces preserved by the colonial expedition aimed to broaden the range of styles performed.