A Weekend with Ganesha!

It’s that time of the year again when RV Road or any market in Bangalore is lined with Ganesha idols of various sizes and colours… Yes….Gowri-Ganesha Chaturthi, one of the biggest festivals of Karnataka is here! Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations bring communities, neighbourhoods and families together…in a way that no other festival does…isn’t it? Besides worshipping Gowri-Ganesh idols at home, Ganesha can be found everywhere…….be it on almost every street of neighbourhood or apartment complex or one’s professional group/associations or a private Radio station, everyone has a Ganesha idol to call their own! Why? Even the Bangalore Civil Court complex boasts of Ganesha chaturthi festivities with a giant idol of Lord Ganesha …..!!! Of course…this has many knocking at our doors for collections/contributions with a promise of  “prasada” that is to follow….as if it were a bait!! :-)
Most celebrations also include cultural programs that range from music shows to story times and craft activities for kids, including making your own eco-friendly Ganesha or Ganesha made of leaves!

 

 

But whatever it is that is happening in Bangalore……we will have to give it a miss as we are off to my native village, Dharmasthala, like every year for the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations or chauthi as it is referred in the South Kanara region of Karnataka. Ganesh habba followed by the weekend……is more than you can ask for to …. feast, meet and for a refreshing retreat!:-)))))  

 

As far as Ganesha stories go, we remembered the apple resembling Ganesha in "Apple Ganesha" from Tulika's  Little Indians by Pika Nani, a story set in Kotagarh,Himachal Pradesh,  known as the Apple heartland of India. 

But for this year's Ganesh Chaturthi, we first picked up picked up "Ganesha" in a bi-lingual format by Appu series that explains how Ganesha came to have an elephant head. Another read on Ganesha is the Amar Chitra Katha publication, "Ganesha and the Moon" that features five different stories on Ganesha. We all know why the moon earned Lord Ganesha's wrath for laughing at Ganesha, but do we know the story of Ganesha and Atmalinga, or the story of how Ganesha wrests the Chintamani from the arrogant Gana or lastly the legend of Shami and Mandar, whose fate is sealed due to a curse, the effect of which that Ganesha helps temper down. It demonstrates that if Ganesha can be touchy enough to curse the moon, he can also be benevolent and shrewd enough to avert the impending danger and save the world! Hope this Ganesh Chaturthi destroys all obstacles and brings peace and prosperity to all your lives! Happy Ganesha Chaturthi!