Festive spirit sans bhakti

by **vivek** » Wed Sep 10, 2003 11:35 am

The Ganesh Chaturthi was a feast to the keen obsever. Many idols, though magnificent, were wrongly done. I noticed at least 30 large idols in popular places wrongly done. Many have two full tusks, some had the sacred thread running right to left. One had a cell phone and another had Sai Baba sitting next to it. This shows a lack of seriousness. 15 crores worth of idols have been immersed in the city alone. Most people take this as a reason to chill-out. Boozing is accepted and to top it, you get lemon rice as the standard prasadam with a film song jarring in the background. The priest performs puja with his shirt and pant on. There is no sanctity. It\'s heart beaking to see one-third of India sleeping hungry. Such kind of money should be donated to orphanages, street children welfare socities. The real Ganesha would \'really\' bless the people. Besides, its against the Hindu Shastras to install idols higher than you unless it is for a temple and to top it, you are not allowed to paint it as you like. The real idol is made from clay and the idea of Nimarjanam is to offer the idol back to the bhoomi - where it came from. Not paint fancy colours in plaster of paris and pollute the city\'s water bodies. Think about it.

by **Arch** » Wed Sep 10, 2003 8:52 pm

Hey, Vivek! You are so very right about the entire scene that you described of Hyderabad, including that of what the shastras have to say, and imagine BOOZE! And the inappropriate film songs and the pujari\'s attitude and...
 
 
Something interesting occurred as I was reading your message. Some form of Hinduism/religion is being followed inspite of its lack of bhakti. May be at some given time, some of them may realise the importance of doing it right, understand its meaning? If not, maybe this by itself is one form of being in touch with ones religion... just a thought, an optimistic one?

by **vivek** » Thu Sep 11, 2003 11:31 am

This is one festive season that unites everyone. And it ends there. There is just no excuse to have an imperfect way of perfoming pujas. If we keep diluting religious formalities for the sake of observering the auspicious time, you might have idols installed next to a toilet and they could get away with an argument of \'atleast they are performing the puja\'. Why would one put a fake dish antena on top the idol\'s crown and give the lord a cell phone. What point do they drive home? The best part is, the idol would cost 50,000 and down it does in the water!

by **Andhraite** » Thu Sep 11, 2003 12:06 pm

See the positive side of buying such expensive idols. Do you have any idea how many poor families are depending on this once in a year festival to make money for their living? It is, also, making way for some poor but talented sculptors to create these idols, those dreams, may be to become one of the greatest sculptures in the world.
 
 
But, I agree with you on making idols with different features & all.

by **Anil** » Sat Sep 13, 2003 5:26 am

Each of you is so right and has so many valid arguments. My brother back home was mentioning that the Khairthabad Ganesh idol broke while taking it for immersion. And most unfortunately, one person was crushed to death beneath it. How sad! Cultural activities are fine but whom are we competing with when trying to build these humongous idols? What was started by Bal Gangadhar Tilak as a ceremony for igniting Nationalism and unifying the Indians against the British is fast descending into an ugly parade of neo-fascism. Those 10 days sure give sleepless nights to our government and the police machinery!
 
 
Nevertheless, I must admit that those 10 days of the year are some of the best days, especially when you are a kid. I still remember watching the free movies (in the good old age when the cable TV did not invade our homes) and getting all sorts of Prasadam everyday. Well, after all that was the age when we weren’t yet smitten by the wisdom bug

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As for Ganeshas in all forms and hues - hmm - should we appreciate people’s imagination or is it an indication that man is fast yielding to these delusions of himself as being all powerful – a parallel force to reckon with. And does he think he can even mould the Supreme one as per his fancy (I heard, there was a DNA Ganesha too – after all it is the age of the genome!)? Or, is it, as the popular saying goes \"Vinaashkale Vipareetha Buddhi\"?

by **Arch** » Sat Sep 13, 2003 7:18 pm

Hey, Anil! Long time. Good to see you back. And for comments, un huh, un huh, un huh (home-improvement-wilson-style). Did the expression come out right :-)

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Festive spirit sans bhakti