Annual ritual

AS a Hindu growing up in urban India, I was taught to look forward to the festival of the Elephant-God. He, as I understand it, is one of the most powerful in the pantheon - the God of wisdom, the one who makes any beginning auspicious, the harbinger of good luck and fortune.

And so it was that, year after year, I looked forward to Vinayaka Chaturti. The promise of a holiday, and the chance to eat modakas made this a favourite festival. The Lord loves sugarcane, jaggery, coconut and payasam. His devotees love it even more. Om Ganeshaya Namaha...

Down the years, the idol of Ganesha has become many splendoured. From the diminutive clay figurine I used to see, he has grown in size and, chameleon-like, changed his colour. He could be anything from six feet tall to a massive 25 feet. His colour could range from pink, red, blue, yellow to a combination of all these.

He could be sitting unobtrusively at your house with his escort at his feet or, more likely, he could be looking down at you ominously from the street corners where he has been reverentially placed on a 10 feet platform in the glare of a thousand lights, his body illuminated with bulbs and covered with flowers. And all this is accompanied by his favourite music, organised by his devotees. And, for nine days and nine nights, the faithful pray to him and shower on him their choicest offerings. Speeches are made, songs are sung, commerce flourishes and donations collected. Om Ganeshaya Namaha - all in the name of the Lord.

On the 10th day, it is time to bring the God from the heavens down to earth. It is time to despatch the one whom we have idolised, worshipped, fed and feted to his rightful abode for the rest of the year. No matter what his earthly size, he must be consigned to the water. His sentiments apart, his subjects' sentiments are more important. With the same pomp with which he was ushered in, there is a fitting farewell. Tonnes of flowers, loads of his favourite sweets and, yes, music are all there to bid goodbye to everyone's favourite deity.

To the chant of pudchya varsha lauker ya (Marathi for "come back soon next year") the final act is under way that of immersion. But wait - there is a problem. The lord has to be escorted in a procession and taken to the sea. The problem - he sits 32 feet tall and the overbridge on the road is 25 feet high. A devotee solves the problem. Just chop the head he suggests. And so, in an act of devotion, this is duly done - to allow him to pass under.

Somewhere else, on a smaller scale, my family - after performing the final pooja - take Ganesha to the sea for immersion. On the beach, a few near-naked children wait to receive us. It has been raining incessantly and gusty cold winds are blowing. The sea looks ominous. "Can we carry Ganesha for you amma? We will charge only Rs. 10 please."

I look back at the God sitting on the rear seat of the car. I see his enormous ears and small mouth. Listen more and talk less, it seemed to say. His big belly symbolises the ability to digest the good and the bad around Him. His vahana, the mouse, represents control over the restless mind. The snake around his hips indicates energy. His arms are symbolic. With the axe, he cuts off all attachments and draws his devotees closer to the Truth with his rope. The hand holding the modaka represents the rewards that comes with devotion while, with his other hand, He blesses and protects his subjects from obstacles.

All this I see in that brief moment but right now he sits there, non-commital and impassive, giving me no sign. The boy carries Ganesha, unmindful of the rain, and we follow respectfully. "Why do you do this," I ask, the boy, rather stupidly. "My family is starving," he says, "and I have no job. At least today we will eat". The immersion over, he clutches his money with cold, wet fingers and runs away looking for another Ganesh to immerse, for is he not also Kubera, the God of plenty, even for people with so little.

Having done my duties as a devotee, I stand in the rain and wonder - How many of the things we do in the Lord's name, does he really want us to do? Does he approve? Who cares, as long as his subjects do? Then I realise, after all these years I still do not understand devotion and faith, fervour and festivity. That is why Ganesha will return year after year, at the call of His devotees to help us understand him! Om Ganeshaya namaha!

VIJAILAKSHMI ACHARYA

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