Ganesh Chaturthi

Of the hundreds of gods and manifestation in the Hindu pantheon, perhaps Ganesha is the most popular. Even the most uninformed and uninterested visitor to this country cannot help but notice the elephant-headed visage of Lord Ganesha on just about every auto and in every building. This week has been Ganesh Chaturthi, which is the festival celebrating his birthday. The whole event is rather ritualized and significant (while some areas do not celebrate as wildly, it is a national holiday), so Kaia and I thought that we would give it a whirl and try our hand at celebrating local style.

The first thing we had to do was to purchase a small clay figure of Ganesha that would adorn our home for three days and then, on the third day, be tossed into the ocean (or river) as a symbol of Ganesha’s journey toward his home in Kailash and taking the misfortunes of man with him. When I first heard about this, I was a bit in disbelief that we (everyone) was going to take these statues and throw them into the ocean?!? Little did I know that some folks create plaster of paris idols that reach up to 25 feet in height! So Kaia and I went to the nearby temple where, conveniently, there were hundreds of clay Ganesha statues for sale. We purchased one, but then I realized, if we were going to do this right, there were a number of other accessories that we’d need to get. Here is where it helps to have regular temple going domestic help.

Our ayah, Joyce, advised us of all of the things that we’d need to get to make it right: a coconut, sugar cane, dates, bananas, camphor (for burning), a bell (to summon Ganesha), corn, a banana leaf (to place things on), dahl, and a puffed rice mixture (that Ganesha supposedly likes to eat). All of these things can be seen in the first photo. Oh, and an umbrella and flower lei for Ganesha as well. After getting everything for less than $3, we set it up. She told me how to peel one banana (in the opposite direction) while keeping the other closed and the process for doing the puja, which Kaia did a great job with—even placing the flowers and mixing the food (photo #2).

After placing all of the items in their proper place, we lit the camphor and circled it three times around Ganesha while ringing the bell. After the completion, you ‘feel’ the heat from the burning camphor and touch it to your forehead. In photo #3 Kaia is learning how to do this with a little help from Sethu. In photo #4, the process is complete with a little reverent prayer and bow and it is off to the ocean in a few days.

We did the puja on Wednesday in our home and then, on Saturday experienced the external celebration that I was particularly looking forward to. It was just a long procession of people (mostly men) shouting and chanting, carrying Ganesha statues, making their way to the ocean. The small clay statues, like the one that we had brought with us, were piled up in the back of bullock carts, presumably from regional temples, and the people were disposing of them as proxies. But what was particularly stunning was the size and elaborate décor of some of the statues. As I said before, all I could think about is—what is the ocean going to look like after this? In the final photo, you can see how they lift the larger statues with a large crane and then boat it out about 100 yards before dumping it. It must be a pretty creepy looking artificial reef out there with hundreds of Ganesha in various states of decomposition.

But back to our little disposal ritual, we made our way through the sea of humanity to the shoreline where we said our goodbyes and I proceeded to contribute to the massive littering exercise in the name of spiritual cleansing. I tried to throw it as far as I could, but (from the photo below) there are a number that just don’t make it very far.

As expected, Kaia was thoroughly impressed with the cranes and disposal process. He’s also developed an affection for Ganesh and immediately asked when we were going to get a new one. The entire process and final event was truly memorable and Kaia really enjoyed himself. Somehow I don’t think that folks would look to kindly at us tossing elephant headed clay figurines into the Puget Sound in the future.

Why I Love this Time: Learning to say ‘yes’, and with enthusiasm!