Ganesh Chaturthi

The much awaited festival of Ganesh has arrived! Ganesh Chaturthi is an eleven day celebration of the elephant-headed, Hindu god, Ganesh. He is one of India's most famous and loved gods as he removes obstacles and brings prosperity. This past month, sculptors and painters have been busy making thousands of Ganesh statues in all sizes out of plaster of paris. They range from half a foot to over 25 feet tall. Starting on Friday night, families and neighborhoods went to collect their statues to place them in alters all over the city. It is with great celebration and fanfare that Ganesh is brought to his resting spot. A family arrives to pick up their Ganesh statue and a ritual involving offerings, mantras, incense and then covering Ganesh's statue is performed before it leaves the building. The transport happens in a variety of ways. We saw Ganesh being paraded by foot, in a rickshaw, on carts, and in trucks. Many are accompanied with a drum band. The result is several days filled with drumming and cheering throughout the streets. It makes for a very festive atmosphere. The Ganesh statues are every color under the sun and are accessorized with fabrics and rhinestones, everyone trying to out do each other.

I went on a tour of Ganesh statues this weekend in South Mumbai, where the bigger statues are located. In a very small area, we saw about 20 different statues, all very unique. This area of Mumbai is part of a contest to see how high and extravagant they can make their Ganeshes. Of course my camera battery died half way through, but luckily my favorite was the second one we saw. The entrance was impressive in itself with shiny, mosaic peacocks keeping watch. (Ganesh'a brother, Kartikeya, has a peacock as his vehicle, or animal that gets him around. Ganesh's is a mouse, which was present in every statue). Walking through the entrance, you go down a corridor decorated with light strings and a fabric ceiling to a second entrance that made me feel like I was walking into the moon. Going up some stairs, puts you above the statue, which is surrounded by pillars with large lotus flowers on top. The colors are silver, blue, purple, and pink. You walk down to the statue, which is sparkley with rhinestones and the mouse is a silver statue looking up at Ganesh. It was marvelous! Like Indian Disneyland. So gaudy and ridiculous that it's wonderful. Most of the statues had scenes around them from the Ramayana (one of the Hindu, epic stories), or cardboard cutouts of movie stars, or other Hindu gods.

Ganesh Chaturthi will go on for up to eleven days, when Ganesh is immersed in the ocean and left to be purified (disintegrating in the ocean water). Family statues will be immersed at 1 and a half days, three days, five days, seven days, and eleven days. It just depends on what a family decides since offerings must happen daily and someone must be with Ganesh 24 hours a day because he is an honored guest. This takes up a lot of time and money, so some families opt for the shorter celebrations. The neighborhood statues are mostly immersed at eleven days. Traditionally, Ganesha was made out of clay, so putting him in the ocean really had no effect. With the current, toxic materials that are used, I've read that dead fish come rolling up on shore for a while afterward with the pollution. Supposedly "they" are going to address this issue, but I don't know who "they" is or when that will happen. Ahhhh, western influence! I've come to the conclusion that I won't be eating much fish in India. Ganesha statues, oil spill, monsoon, and a reported seven-mile dead zone along the coast don't make it too appetizing. I might be a full on veg here.

(The pictures are of my favorite Ganesh. Go to (http://picasaweb.google.com/gregtibboel/GaneshChatathuri?authkey=Gv1sRgCOKttN6z1KzlIw&feat=email#) to see more photographs! I'll be adding more as the week unfolds).