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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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Welcoming Lord Ganesha

Yesterday was a day for celebrations - and as is usual for any mass celebration in India, filled with the noise of drums and brass bands, people dancing on the streets, and loads of colour being thrown in joy! Even heavy rains didnt dampen the enthusiasm, even as Ganesha idols continued to be brought in, late into the evening!

We welcomed our own Ganesha idols rather quietly, with Samhith starting off the puja this year. After all, he had a hand in the idols too this year. We went completely eco-friendly, using the clay idols we had made.

The idol in front is the one I made..
The smaller ones behind are Samhith's

We went for a walk in the evening, in spite of the rain, hoping to see some Ganeshas, and we weren't disappointed. Some of them were still making their way to their pandal, thanks to the pouring rains and potholed roads slowing them down!



The Ganeshas were well covered in plastic sheets to protect them from the rain. Some of them had their faces covered, since some believe it inauspicious for anyone to see the face of the Lord before He is installed within the idol through the rites and rituals.



The people bringing him had no compunctions about getting wet! Their happiness was unabated as they danced....



The roads were wet, and slippery, and this is usually the most crowded part of our suburb. However, today, the Lord and his devotees had the right of way!





At our local pandal, Samhith was in for a treat. We were just in time for the puja, and the offerings were laid out, all set for the Lord to have his fill. Of course, we waited so that Samhith could get a share too!


And that was just the first day of the ten-day festival. Keep coming back for more!
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Location: Chembur, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Comments

  1. ArtiSeptember 2, 2011 at 11:26 AM

     Great post Anu, I have been pandal hopping too!
    Lets see when I put it all together!
    And the clay Ganesha is very cute:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ashwini NagarajSeptember 2, 2011 at 11:53 AM

    Nice post. The eco-friendly Ganesha's are so very nicely done. Happy festivities.  The rains did not bring down the enthusiasm of the festival - very true.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Summi SSeptember 2, 2011 at 3:02 PM

    Nice post. I like the Ganesh you made :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anu ShankarSeptember 2, 2011 at 9:38 PM

    Thanks a lot, Arti! Waiting to see your collection soon!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anu ShankarSeptember 2, 2011 at 9:39 PM

    Thanks Ashwini....

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anu ShankarSeptember 2, 2011 at 9:39 PM

    Thanks Summi!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Mridula DSeptember 3, 2011 at 3:16 PM

    So the comments are back again! It is great to see you and Samhith experimenting with clay!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anu ShankarSeptember 4, 2011 at 12:59 PM

    Thanks Mridula, for trying again!!!

    ReplyDelete

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