ganpati (part 3: taking it to the streets)

piles and piles of tasty modak

alright, so we've seen the earliest parts of ganpati celebrations.. home pujas, public shrines.. darshan, veneration, prasad. now comes the crazy part.

processing through the house
(gym shorts and muscle shirts optional)

i showed up at another friend of a friend's house, my box of sweets (modak, at left) in tow. after traffic and slight misdirection, i arrived towards the end of the puja. in time for a little clapping and the requisite 'ganpati bappa morya' - this refrain goes on pretty much all night. the final offerings were made, the holy fire was offered to all, and prasad was had by all. then it was time to take the murti out of its pandal (in this case a really interesting woven basket) and into the streets. candles were lit along the floor and the deity was made to stop briefly over each of the flames on on its way out.

we made it down the stairs only to realize that it had begun to pour, putting a bit of a damper on the proposed 30-minute walk to the beach. no matter! ganpati, and everyone else, was strapped into various cars and the procession continued by caravan. it seems we weren't the only one with this idea, as the roads were pretty congested (but then in mumbai i guess it's hard to tell what the cause of traffic is since it's basically a fixture).

balloons and lights add to the festivity

the processions weren't limited to cars, though. driving by, we witnessed all methods of transport - ganeshes on carts lined with palm leaves, families hovered around the deity in the backs of trucks, balloons festooning canopies, groups marching to the beat of the dhol (or even drumsets), and - my personal favorite - a mobile dance party, complete with blaring speakers and flashing strobe light. the pouring rain had clearly put no damper on these celebrations.

 a passing bus joins in the strobe light dance party

when we finally made it to the beach kristen and i were stunned at the vast expanse of shoreline that now lay before us. high tide and low tide are two very different entities here, it seems. along the darkened shorelines, we could see families gathered around faraway fires and hear the distant intermittent chants. the deity can be immersed after one and a half, three, five, seven or ten days (the tenth being the biggest) so this was just the first of many such events. the beach was littered with deities washed ashore, as well as flower malas, plastic bags, and ash. we all gathered around the deity for a final lighting of the fire and reciting of sacred verses before the deity was ceremoniously immersed into the water. this task was left to three or four of the men, while we waited near shore and tried not to think about what was in the water that was creeping up our shins.

we bid the deity farewell and that was that. it's a bit sad to think i won't be able to see the madness that will ensue in the coming days, but i'm glad to at least have gotten a glimpse into the craziness that is ganpati in mumbai.