The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...
Its been a couple of days since Ganesha came home, and its high time I shared Him with all of you.... Of course, considering that he stays home for ten full days, we have lots of time to share......
To begin with, this time, we decided to try our hand at making a Ganesha out of clay. Here are our combined outputs - the bigger one is obviously mine, but the smaller one is completely Samhith's effort....
Of course, this did not mean that we dispensed off with our regular clay idol from the market - we weren't too sure about how our handmade one would shape - so here is our very own small mandap with the market Ganesha being flanked by our very own smaller ones....
And then, here are the rest of our preparations for the puja -
My kolam (rangoli)
These are 21 types of leaves supposed to be considered very special for Ganesha....
Dhruva grass - the most sacred of all items for Ganesha (shall post the related story sometime, when I have more time ) and Tulsi leaves....
Bilva leaves and assorted flowers...(incidentally, we offer Bilva and tulsi to Ganesha only on this day...... )
And finally, the raison d'etre for the puja - the prasad.....Rice, Payasam, Kozhakattai (modaks), Vadai and Idli
Here's what the mandap looked after we finished the puja ... all of us took turns offering the flowers and leaves...
And that's just the beginning of the celebration. I am trying to post at least one pic of Ganesha everyday for the next 9 days... lets see how many I get to see!!!
To begin with, this time, we decided to try our hand at making a Ganesha out of clay. Here are our combined outputs - the bigger one is obviously mine, but the smaller one is completely Samhith's effort....
Of course, this did not mean that we dispensed off with our regular clay idol from the market - we weren't too sure about how our handmade one would shape - so here is our very own small mandap with the market Ganesha being flanked by our very own smaller ones....
And then, here are the rest of our preparations for the puja -
My kolam (rangoli)
These are 21 types of leaves supposed to be considered very special for Ganesha....
Dhruva grass - the most sacred of all items for Ganesha (shall post the related story sometime, when I have more time ) and Tulsi leaves....
Bilva leaves and assorted flowers...(incidentally, we offer Bilva and tulsi to Ganesha only on this day...... )
And finally, the raison d'etre for the puja - the prasad.....Rice, Payasam, Kozhakattai (modaks), Vadai and Idli
Here's what the mandap looked after we finished the puja ... all of us took turns offering the flowers and leaves...
And that's just the beginning of the celebration. I am trying to post at least one pic of Ganesha everyday for the next 9 days... lets see how many I get to see!!!
Lovely pictures Anu and I liked your and Samhith's effort a lot. Where did you learn it?
ReplyDeleteHappy Vinayaka Chaturthi greetings for you and your family.
ReplyDeletehey,
ReplyDeletegr8 work yaar!!!!! i m booking a ganpati for next yr frm now, dnt say no!!!! one frm u n frm my darling k??????
Kanthi
Very nice and nicely done! I think it is beautiful in every way.
ReplyDelete@Mridula: Thanks... havent really learnt it.. wanted to make one since a long time.. and this time, you tube came to my aid... there are lots of step by step videos showing how to make them.. it was quite a surprise to find it so easy!!
ReplyDelete@Chitra: thanks so much and wish you too the same....
@Kanthi: u will surely get one next year.. he has decided to give this one to sandhya..
@Anon: thanks a lot!
luvly post anu :) and the ganeshas are beautiful
ReplyDeleteLovely post Anu! Great pics too. =) Happy Ganesha Chaturthi greetings to you and your family.
ReplyDeleteLovely pictures and a great post. I loved the prasadam too:)))
ReplyDelete@Sandeep: thanks :)
ReplyDelete@Indu: thanks a lot! Wish you the same..
@Julia: thanks.. the prasadam is the best part of our pujas, isnt it???
Hey! This is wonderful work! Never knew you could make all this with clay! I'm impressed! Wish I knew about this talent earlier; would have learnt from you :)
ReplyDelete