My title says: Jai Lord Ganesha!
Who is Ganesha? One of the most popular Gods in Hinduism. Many of you may know this God as the 'elephant headed God.' The past 10 days have been devoted to Ganesh- who is known to be a God of prosperity and overcoming any type of hardships. Many Hindus pray or think of this God at the start of anything new- whether it be a journey, a job, or even school (including myself). It varies from family to family whether the festival is celebrated for all 10 days or just 2 days. My host mom celebrated it for about 2 days- beginning with a pooja on the first day.
On the first day, there is a small get up done in each home that celebrates in which a Ganesh idol is placed in an alter-type set up. The idol is decorated with all sorts of jewelry, flowers, colorful lights and lamps etc. When the decorations are done, a pooja is performed. I was fortunately able to participate in this and am very grateful for that. My host mom read out loud all the chants/mantras from a variety of books while I did aarthi (which is light from wicks soaked in ghee- which is then offered to the God). Since my host mom is still recovering from her open heart surgery, I was able to do more actions! For one, besides the main idol in all the homes that celebrate, when the pooja is done- there is a smaller Ganesh idol put on top of a plate that sits at the bottom of the main altar. As you read out all the chants from the book(s), you also have to bathe the tinier idol with a mix of water and milk while offering small flowers. The entire pooja took about 45 minutes and sometimes it can take way longer- especially if priests are invited inside of the home. However, my host mom decided to keep it simple and so we were done relatively early. Once the pooja is done, the food that has been prepared for the day (including modak- Ganesh's favorite sweet) has to be offered to the God first- so the plate of food is placed in front of the idol and after that, lunch can be eaten :)
We had a delicious meal in fact and I was left incredibly full. We did the same thing as above before dinner and again for dinner on the 2nd day of the festival as well. Once a family is done celebrating the festival, the Ganpati idol is usually submerged into water- usually a river or a sea. My host mom, however, is ecofriendly and for this reason, she uses the same Ganpati idol every year and instead submerges the idol into a bucket of water for about 5 minutes and then brings it back out. She doesn't think it's very respectful to put the idol into water that is often polluted with sewage and other garbage. So despite people such as her, I do know (and have seen) that other families continue to practice the submersion of the idol into rivers/seas- which is pretty interesting to me, because I find what my host mom said to be incredibly true.
Today was the last day of the festival (the 10th day) and I got up early this morning to head over to Lakshmi Road with a few of the other people from the program. We were able to watch the procession of HUNDREDS of people go by as the cities 5 main idols were carried through the streets, over a course of 5 or so hours. We were only there from about 12-330 but I know that the processions that began early this morning go overnight until 8am TOMORROW... crazy! It was awesome watching everyone dance and sing. We ourselves were able to participate as well- so you bet we went out and danced with all the other people there! Flowers were thrown and people started throwing red powder EVERYWHERE (red is Ganesh's favorite color by the way) and so of course I went from brown to red in .5 seconds.. it was great. A lot of people were sad about missing Holi here but in a way, we got to experience what that would've been like (even though it was nothing in comparison).
After a long day we walked back and I headed home.
As I type this, I have to say that I also realize that today is in fact, 9/11. A lot of us discussed how there was so much celebration here while in our minds, we acknowledged what a somber day this was for many back home. I thought back to where I was when 9/11 happened, how old I was, how little I knew, and how much suffering I saw in the aftermath of it all. Thoughts go out to every single person that was affected by this awful tragedy, as well as those who continue to fight in our nation's defense every single day. And at the end of the day, despite the fact that I am Indian, I am also American and am incredibly proud to call myself that & am so grateful for the freedom I'm able to exercise on a daily basis. I hope everyone back in the US stays safe and alert today- love to you all.
-Sai
Who is Ganesha? One of the most popular Gods in Hinduism. Many of you may know this God as the 'elephant headed God.' The past 10 days have been devoted to Ganesh- who is known to be a God of prosperity and overcoming any type of hardships. Many Hindus pray or think of this God at the start of anything new- whether it be a journey, a job, or even school (including myself). It varies from family to family whether the festival is celebrated for all 10 days or just 2 days. My host mom celebrated it for about 2 days- beginning with a pooja on the first day.
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| This is the altar we set up (my host mom and I)- the plate at the bottom with the fire in it is the plate used to do the aarthi) |
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| This is a close up of the main Ganesh idol we used-- this picture was taken AFTER the pooja which is why you see flowers at the front. Flowers are offered during the pooja itself. |
We had a delicious meal in fact and I was left incredibly full. We did the same thing as above before dinner and again for dinner on the 2nd day of the festival as well. Once a family is done celebrating the festival, the Ganpati idol is usually submerged into water- usually a river or a sea. My host mom, however, is ecofriendly and for this reason, she uses the same Ganpati idol every year and instead submerges the idol into a bucket of water for about 5 minutes and then brings it back out. She doesn't think it's very respectful to put the idol into water that is often polluted with sewage and other garbage. So despite people such as her, I do know (and have seen) that other families continue to practice the submersion of the idol into rivers/seas- which is pretty interesting to me, because I find what my host mom said to be incredibly true.
Today was the last day of the festival (the 10th day) and I got up early this morning to head over to Lakshmi Road with a few of the other people from the program. We were able to watch the procession of HUNDREDS of people go by as the cities 5 main idols were carried through the streets, over a course of 5 or so hours. We were only there from about 12-330 but I know that the processions that began early this morning go overnight until 8am TOMORROW... crazy! It was awesome watching everyone dance and sing. We ourselves were able to participate as well- so you bet we went out and danced with all the other people there! Flowers were thrown and people started throwing red powder EVERYWHERE (red is Ganesh's favorite color by the way) and so of course I went from brown to red in .5 seconds.. it was great. A lot of people were sad about missing Holi here but in a way, we got to experience what that would've been like (even though it was nothing in comparison).
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| A few of us after all the powder was thrown-- towards the end of our day |
As I type this, I have to say that I also realize that today is in fact, 9/11. A lot of us discussed how there was so much celebration here while in our minds, we acknowledged what a somber day this was for many back home. I thought back to where I was when 9/11 happened, how old I was, how little I knew, and how much suffering I saw in the aftermath of it all. Thoughts go out to every single person that was affected by this awful tragedy, as well as those who continue to fight in our nation's defense every single day. And at the end of the day, despite the fact that I am Indian, I am also American and am incredibly proud to call myself that & am so grateful for the freedom I'm able to exercise on a daily basis. I hope everyone back in the US stays safe and alert today- love to you all.
-Sai
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