In Hyderabad, the Ganesh festival is a 10-day affair that ends in the submersion of giant Ganesh statues in Hussain Sagar, the big lake in the center of the city. To give you a sense of scale, this year there's expected to be 13,000 Ganeshas submerged in the lake, with over a million spectators!
Ganesh is the elephant god, known as the Remover of Obstacles and the bearer of auspicious new beginnings. He adorns most houses I know (our flat included!) I like when Indians describe him as the most "naughty" of the gods. The festival is a time to pray for inner strength and success in all new endeavors.
The lead-up to the Ganesh festival is fun in and of itself. One of our hospitals is located in the area where most of the Ganeshas in Hyderabad are made. I would pass literally hundreds of half-painted Ganeshas lining the street on my way to work -- some half-purple, some half-pink, some half-blue... All insanely large -- over 6 feet tall and appropriately wide for the elephant god.
On my last day in Hyderabad last year before returning to the States for two months, Tyler and I went on a Ganesh "safari" around Hyderabad on his motorcycle -- with me on the back trying to capture the festival on video. We went all around different neighborhoods, on the hunt for their Ganesh on display (it's a huge community affair...lots of money is raised by each community to put up the Ganesh... I couldn't walk home a single day last week without a throng of eager little boys asking for money for the festival)
Khairtabad, where my "colony" is, traditionally has the largest Ganesh in Hyderabad. The same awe surrounds its "opening ceremony" as the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. And this is just the beginning...there's Durgashtami, Diwali, Eid... Festival season has started here in India. Excited to be part of the celebrations!
I think you should dress up as Ganesh! You might get mobbed even more than usual though. :)
ReplyDeletethe trunk seems way too heavy, not to mention the ears...
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