Wednesday was the start of the Ganesha Festival throughout India. Ganesha is probably the most ubiquitous of all deities in India, being revered by all sects and even other philosophies, such as Buddhism. I used to think that Hindu Gods and Goddesses were garish, childish (those who know me well know that I can’t stand animation) and just ugly. I couldn’t relate to them at all. But the longer I’ve spent here the more I’ve grown to like and even love some. I have to admit, I love Ganesha. He’s got the head of an elephant, the body of a man, a big rotund belly and he’s riding a mouse. He’s just as cute as all get out. I love his symbolism as well. Here's what one of the websites says about Ganesha:
“Ganesha's head symbolizes the Atman or the soul, which is the ultimate supreme reality of human existence, and his human body signifies Maya or the earthly existence of human beings. The elephant head denotes wisdom and its trunk represents Om, the sound symbol of cosmic reality. In his upper right hand Ganesha holds a goad, which helps him propel mankind forward on the eternal path and remove obstacles from the way. The noose in Ganesha's left hand is a gentle implement to capture all difficulties.
The broken tusk that Ganesha holds like a pen in his lower right hand is a symbol of sacrifice, which he broke for writing the Mahabharata. The rosary in his other hand suggests that the pursuit of knowledge should be continuous. The laddoo (sweet) he holds in his trunk indicates that one must discover the sweetness of the Atman. His fan-like ears convey that he is all ears to our petition. The snake that runs round his waist represents energy in all forms. And he is humble enough to ride the lowest of creatures, a mouse.”
So how does one celebrate an elephant headed God? See pics here. Well to start off, you go buy a statue of him at one of the many stands along the road.
These statues are typically made of clay and can range from 6 inches to 20 feet tall. Then you set up an alter and do pujas or prayers. Of course it’s not enough to do puja in your own home, you need to go to the local Ganesha temple to pay respects as well.
Luckily we have a Ganesha temple catty corner from our local coconut stand. This one comes complete with its very own fig tree which is quite auspicious being one of the 3 best places to pray. The queues started forming outside of the temple very early in the morning and did not abate until late at night.
I, myself chose to do my puja at Jayashree and Narasimhan’s house in the morning and to go to the temple around 5 in the evening. I met a friend at the temple and then we drove to the Rama Krishna Ashram to check out some classes we’d heard about followed by a light dinner. Light being the operative word for me since I now get up at 3:30 AM every day to practice by 4:30.
There was a laundry across the road from the cafe we were eating at and they’d set up an alter there. When the sun went down they lit some candles, and performed their puja including breaking a piece of crockery on a flame they’d lit in the middle of the road. I don’t know what that was about but it was beautiful! So beautiful I went over and asked if I could take a picture. Well, as soon as any westerner shows interest in them the usual happens, they invite you into their home. We got invited into the laundry and into the next two houses down as well.
A puja is not a puja without food so after my very purposeful light meal I was offered (and of course had to eat every bite of) some sort of sweet chapati (they called it something that sounded like Umberto) with coconut. It was delicious and very filling. We also got about 4 bananas each from doing the rounds of these 2 houses and the laundry. Thankfully I was able to politely decline the cookie they shoved into our hands as we walked out the door. It was actually very sweet and wonderful and what I’m beginning to realise is a common occurance in India.
After our tour of alters we headed back to Gokulam and I checked out the festival grounds where they are having free concerts....apparently for the next 10 days. Everyone was dressed to the nines. There were so many pretty sarees to be seen. Sorry about the blurry pictures but I just had to include them all. I didn’t want to use a flash so I just put my camera on 800 speed ISO but there was too much movement.
So that was Wednesday and it’s now Friday. The celebrations are still going strong. As I write this I can hear the loudspeader blaring announcements and music from 3 blocks away. Sleeping is going to be interesting to say the least. Ahhh, India. If New Zealand is the most beautiful place on Earth, India has to be the loudest.
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