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Published: September 6th 2014
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Last Friday was Ganesh Chaturthi. This is the birthday celebration of one of India's most beloved Gods, Ganesh. Music started playing at midnight the day of, all offices were closed and fireworks rang out later that night in Pondicherry. We were told that for the most part, it is a celebration that is honored in homes and temples and not publicly, though I don't doubt that there was a public festival in Pondicherry. I read that the big festivals traditionally involve installing clay images of Ganesha in temporary shrines, which are worshipped for ten days with a variety of herbal leaves and plants to later be immersed at the end of the festival in a water, (lakes and rivers), along with the miniature Idols. Ganesh seems omnipresent here in the South East. He seems to be the primary deity, and is revered as the remover of obstacles, the god of new beginnings, the patron of arts and sciences and the deva of intellect and wisdom. It is recommended to place a a small statue of Ganesh facing your door so that he can remove obstacles on your behalf.
A chant of: Om Shree Ganesha Ji
Gam Gam Ganapati
Gaaye Namaha
Local Ganesh Shrine
- of which there are countless. is common and translates as “Oh Great Ganesha-Ji
Remover of Obstacles,
we sing and salute you!” Or in other words: “Hey! Wake up the root chakra, energy of transformation, and move through obstacles. Yay!” This is reminiscent of the Buddhist quote made in the same spirit, “Each day we are born again. What we do today is what matters most". I am especially curious about Ganesh as the as the god of new beginnings; maybe I'll buy a small statue to place near my front door for when I return - here's to fresh starts and turning them into opportunities for abundance!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhzGfNIKZy0 (Haven' been able to watch this, but it looks interesting).
Malek, Sephina and I took a bus into Pondicherry finally and did some small amount of exploring. The local bus from Auroville only waits 2.5 hours for our return. We didn't have any luck at all in regards to finding anything on our shopping list (tiffins, anklets, bangles, indian clothing), but we did have a run in with Lakshmi, the elephant who hands out blessings for a coin. The kids and I were enamored with his magnificence and stood gazing at him for quite a while.
Sephina and Malek fed him a banana each and also placed a coin into his... nostril, where he collects and holds the coins before reaching out and 'blessing' the patron with a tap from his trunk. He seemed very well cared for an adored and I doubt it is something they will ever forget. In the big city, the kids also got to experience another level of a different way of living, with clouds of pollution, mixed with the heat and humidity, contorting the smells of fresh flowers (often glorious tuberose) and raw sewage. Amplified humanity.
Otherwise we have continued to enjoy our trips excite-biking around on the scooter, especially when riding over the "deathly death trap of doom and destruction", (a narrow pathway that looms over a pit likely caused by a wash out, and experiencing the rich Indian animal diversity, (whether we want to or not - think giant persistent spiders in our bathroom, scorpions and whip scorpions in our room). It's all amazing and thoroughly enriching and we are all grateful to be here, even if a little homesickness and hesitancy remains.
Bellow are pictures, some of which I
Bus to Pondicherry
non stop amazement outside the window... did not take but gathered after web searching the creature that we came across, for later documentation.
eric_klein_ganesh_blows_away.jpg
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