Next Monday, 9th September, we will be celebrating 'Ganesh Chaturhti' which is the Hindu festival celebrating the birth (or rebirth) of Ganehsa - the son of Shiva and Parvati. Ganesh is the same temple God that our car was blessed at - he is known as the 'remover of obstacles' and is also known for his intellect and wisdom, and for this, he is very popular with students.
The story is told that Lord Ganesha was created by the goddess Parvati from sandalwood and clay, and then she breathed life into him. After this, she had him stand guard at her door while she bathed. The Lord Shiva returned home and Ganesha would not let him enter as he didn't know him. Enraged by this, the Lord Shiva and Ganesha fought and during this battle Ganesha was killed by his head being severed. Parvati promised that her son would live again, and a search across the world was undertaken for a new head for Ganesha. A mother elephant was found crying for her dead baby and the baby elephant's head was then affixed to Lord Ganesha.
Here in Karnataka it is a huge celebration and the lead up to this festival is when thousands of Ganesh clay models are made by many artisans with much love and attention. The statues vary in size from small hand held to over 20 metres high. The huge statues are bought for the celebrations and will be paraded through the city areas with great pride. Then at the end of the day, the Ganesha clay models are thrown back into the river or lake, where they will dissolve, as they are made of clay.
The Ganesha models are painted with very bright colours and are seen everywhere during this two week period. There is a HUGE Ganesh temple in Bangalore - it's on the way to the boys school. They love seeing it daily.
I have bought the boys there own little Ganesh models out of respect for this great celebration but we will probably keep ours. Many families will soak them in a bucket and then put the clay in the garden (my garden doesn't need anymore clay !!!)
We will be in Goa on the day of the big celebrations - we hope to see lots of fun and excitement there.
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| Max's Ganesha |
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