Bringing Bappa Home
celebrating ganesh Chaturthi
Sachin Khot
Mumbai, India
T
he god of wisdom as they call him in the Hindu culture, Lord
Ganesh helped Bal Gangadhar Tilak to bring people together
in the pre-independence era not only to worship him but also
discuss their strategies to take down the East India Company. After
70 years of Independence, it is still celebrated with the same zeal and
enthusiasm all over the country especially in Maharashtra. In case
you didn’t’know Lord Ganesh is the Hindu god with the head of an
elephant and body of a human. According to Hindu mythology, he
is the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. The festival is of twelve
days and huge pandals, with varied themes, are erected all over the
country to welcome Lord Ganesha. With the various global issues in
the picture, some pandals are using this festival to spread awareness
about problems like pollution, women safety, deforestation etc by
64
Vol 7
One of the Top 30 in Chiiz Photography Contest
Canon EOS 5D Mark III 24mm F/5 1/80s ISO3200
basing their themes on them. Many religious people also like to
bring the idol home and offer their prayers for twelve days. The last
day the entire Hindu population bids goodbye to their lord and the
Idols are immersed in water bodies. But nothing is perfect and this
festival also has its cons. With the increasing number of idols being
immersed the water bodies are getting toxic and polluted with the
plaster of paris. Also, some pandals are taking it as a competition
and using loudspeakers to attract crowd causing nuisance and noise
pollution. But the new age artists are using various biodegradable
materials like paper, organic soil etc to make idols and reduce the
adverse effects. In all the chaos this festival brings the entire country
together, even if for twelve days, which is much needed with the
communal tensions going on.