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Newasa - Encountering an unique form of Vishnu, and Sant Jnaneshwar

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...
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Ganesh Chaturthi 2011 - The Festival begins!

This blog has been selected by Blogadda for the week's Spicy Saturday Picks, 3rd September, 2011! Click on the image or the link above to see the other wonderful posts on the list!






Ganesh Chaturthi is here and Mumbai is all set to welcome its favourite God. The most interesting thing about Mumbai's Ganesha's is their variety - we see all sorts of Ganeshas in all sorts of sizes - tiny to huge, Ganeshas with their parents, Ganeshas dressed like Krishna, Ganesha dressed in modern clothes.. the list in endless. Come and see our Ganeshas through my lens....

Waiting for a coat of paint





Work in progress


Finishing touches




Strumming a guitar!


Shivaji and Krishna side by side

With his parents

Dattatrya is sandwiched between two others

On his father's shoulders







Dressed as his father




As peshwas

The Lord of the hills - Balaji





And finally, coming home!
Meanwhile, this year, I am doing a series of posts on my stories blog, where I shall be putting up stories of Ganesha every day for the next ten days of the festival. Do go over and take a look. Here are the posts up there now....



Labels:
Location: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Comments

  1. RajeshSeptember 1, 2011 at 10:14 AM

    Wonderful and colorful idols of Lord.
    Happy Ganesh Charturti.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Indrani GhoseSeptember 1, 2011 at 10:33 AM

    Wow! So many of them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ArtiSeptember 1, 2011 at 12:09 PM

    Wow!! I am speechless!
    So colorful..
    Wish you and your family a very Happy Ganesh Chaturthi:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mridula DSeptember 1, 2011 at 2:13 PM

    Lovely images all around!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anu ShankarSeptember 1, 2011 at 3:03 PM

    THanks Rajesh! wish you too a happy Ganesh Chaturthi!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anu ShankarSeptember 1, 2011 at 3:03 PM

    Yes Indrani! and these were from just two shops in my area!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anu ShankarSeptember 1, 2011 at 3:04 PM

    Thanks Arti! Wish u too a very happy Ganesh Chaturthi!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anu ShankarSeptember 1, 2011 at 3:04 PM

    Thanks Mridula!

    ReplyDelete
  9. aJSeptember 1, 2011 at 7:16 PM

    Feels like I am a part of Mumbai right now. What a joy ride. 

    Happy Ganesha Chaturthi :)
    regards, aJ

    ReplyDelete
  10. teamgsquareSeptember 2, 2011 at 7:08 AM

    Happy festival to you and your family

    ReplyDelete
  11. chitraSeptember 2, 2011 at 10:24 AM

    Fantaastic pics, bright and colourful...

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anu ShankarSeptember 2, 2011 at 11:15 AM

    Thanks so much, Aakash! Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to you too!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anu ShankarSeptember 2, 2011 at 11:15 AM

    Thanks so much Chitra!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Shekar RaghavanSeptember 3, 2011 at 4:15 PM

    You have managed to capture the astounding variety of His forms. Beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Bubblegum....September 9, 2012 at 9:01 PM

    I feel Nostalgic. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

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