Loving Ganesha: Chapter 15 - Hindudharmavishayaka Punyotsavah--Sacred Festivals

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font-weight:bold">Hindudharmavishayaka

Punyotsavah

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PULENT HINDU FESTIVALS ARE TIMES OF JOYOUS celebration marked by

special observances. There are many festivals each year, several to each of

the Gods. In this section we present the major festivals that honor Lord

Ganesha. Some are celebrated in the temple and others primarily in the home

and village. Each of Hinduism's major denominations has its special

festivals, and all share in certain celebrations. Each festival occurs at

approximately the same time of year, varying slightly according to

astrological calculations, usually based on the lunar calendar. Festivals are

characterized by acts of piety -- penance, fasting, pilgrimage

-- and spiritual rejoicing: singing, dancing, musical performance, parades,

storytelling, scripture-reading and elaborate pujas.

Ganesha

Chaturthi

Ganesha

Chaturthi, also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi, is the festival day celebrating

the birth of Lord Ganesha. One of the great national festivals of India, and the

foremost annual festival to

Ganesha, it is celebrated on the chaturthi

or "fourth day" after the new moon in the Tamil month of Avani

(August-September). We decorate the temple and home shrine with banana

leaves, sugarcane and strings of mango leaves, making it look like a small

forest. We bring baskets of fruits and sweets, especially modaka balls, and

place them before the sanctum of Lord Ganesha. He receives special pujas

throughout the day and often a festival parade. Each year we obtain or make a

small or large soft clay image of Ganapati and use it

for worship at home for two to ten days after Ganesha Chaturthi. Pandit

Arunachalam notes: "In Karnataka, India, young people make a ritual of

seeing 108 Vinayakas on this occasion, so they go about visiting their

friends' and relatives' houses on this day....The worship of Ganesha on this

day is supposed to confer advancement in learning to the young student and

success in any enterprise undertaken" (Festivals

of Tamil Nadu, p. 110-121).

Shri

Arunachalam continues with a description of the Chaturthi Puja itself:

"The worship, or puja, is done as usual towards the close of the

forenoon. The whole house and the entrance are decorated with kolam. Festoons are hung 'round the

place of worship, making it into a sort of decorated mandapam, or hall. Tender coconut

leaves, split and artistically designed, white in color, mango leaves dark

green, lilies in white, and pink and crimson festoons present a colorful

appearance. The newly made clay image is placed facing east in a convenient

place in the northern part of the house on a pedestal decorated in kolam design

of an eight-petalled padma (lotus flower). On the padma a small quantity of

paddy

(uncooked rice) is spread, and the Ganesha image is placed on it over a

plantain leaf. Only white flowers are used for the worship. Aruhu and erukku are

special favorites. Then all the puja rituals are gone through

fully.

"Besides,

the fruits of the season, such as the wood apple and jambu (naval), are also offered

in plenty along with the customary plantain fruits and coconuts.... Usually

in the rural parts, a puja is performed again the next morning or noon

(punarpuja) with fresh food offerings. In the

evening, the Ganesha image is carried by the boys, along with the flowers,

and consigned to a running stream or to a good water pool or tank. So,

Ganesha who was shaped out of the earth, is now

returned to the same earth." This is a day for rejoicing and for seeking

the blessings of the Lord of Obstacles to bring wealth and success into our

life.

Ganesha

Visarjana

Ganesha

Visarjana (a Sanskrit word meaning

"departure") names the Ganesha Chaturthi immersion ceremony.

Especially in Maharashtra state, it takes place ten days after Ganesha

Chaturthi; though in some areas Visarjana is done

even on the Chaturthi day itself. It is a ceremony of fond farewell to a

beloved God. On Chaturthi day we celebrate Ganesha's birthday and then honor Him

as our beloved guest for ten days. Then on the

tenth day, called chaturdashi, we bid Him fond farewell at the ocean

shore or banks of a river or babbling brook of love and watch Him float off

on the conveyance we have prepared for Him until He finally disappears from

sight into the waters. We honor His departure with

a grand parade, as we carry Him on a palanquin bedecked with flowers and

accompanied by puja, music,

dancing and celebration. Clay images of Ganesha specifically prepared for the

event are ceremoniously dissolved in the ocean or other body of water at this

time by devotees all over the world, signifying Ganesha's withdrawal into

all-pervasive consciousness. Though the Visarjana

has been celebrated as a religious festival for thousands of years, it became

especially popular early in this century.

Shri

S.K. Deodhar explained the popularity of the Visarjana festival in HINDUISM

TODAY, July, 1988: "Lokmanya Tilak from Maharashtra, who first raised the

banner

for Indian independence and freedom from British rule, gave the call around

1910 to celebrate the Ganesha festival as a public puja, so as to mobilize

people to come together to build up a strong, united India, based on her holy

traditions and scriptural teachings. Since then, people observe the festival,

both at home and in public, with options of one and one-half days to 5, 7 or

10 days. The tenth day is Ananta Chaturdashi, which coincides with the puja

to Ananta, the Holy Serpent.

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"The tenth-day immersion procession is truly

spectacular in many cities, when thousands of idols are taken to the sea or

river with a lot of music, dance, rejoicing, street-chariots and decorations.

These continue often throughout the tenth night, up to the eleventh day

morning. The celebration consists of bringing an earthen idol from the market

and doing puja in the traditional style as you would do for a respected guest

who comes to your home. When it is time for a guest to depart, we offer him

gifts and food for his travel. Then we accompany him up to the border of the

village, which is often a small stream or rivulet. As the guest enters the

water of the stream, we bid him goodbye and return home. This old tradition

is observed in the Ganesha festival, by immersing the earthen idol in the

river, sea or tank. The observance was originally for one and one-half days:

bringing the idol on the first day, doing the puja, rejoicing, and immersing

it on the second day. But later many people increased the period to celebrate

the festival with more joy, devotion, music, religious talks, etc. The Indian

state of Maharashtra is renowned for its Visarjana

festivals which each year draw millions of participants, most notably in the

cities of Bombay and Pune." (Shri Deodhar's description was translated from Gujarati by

Shri Vinayak Vishwanath Gokhale.)

It is

well known that Lord Ganesha has a knack for bringing devotees together, and

the Visarjana is one of the ways that He does this.

All forget their daily concerns, worries and personal lives during this

celebration and gather with others in the fun. In 1988 Ganesha broke new

ground in his public relations when Visarjana was

held in the United States. It was the first large-scale

interdenominational public Hindu festival held in US history. It was indeed an historic

event. Almost two thousand Hindus gathered in San Francisco, California, on

September 25 for a grand festival

culminating ten days of worship and festivities begun on Ganesha Chaturthi. More

than twenty Hindu organizations of

various traditions participated against the majestic backdrop of the Golden Gate

Bridge. Horns sounded, drums played and bells

rang out pujas as hundreds of images of Ganesha were dramatically conveyed to

the Pacific

Ocean.

Many worshipers stated with delight that

they felt as if they were back in India. The celebration proved to one and all

that Hinduism had reached a new level of maturity in the US, as devotees boldly proclaimed

their faith in such a grand public ceremony. The festival has been held in

the San Francisco Bay Area every year since its inception. Australia followed

suit a few years later, and

now yearly parades are held on the streets of Sidney by all Hindu groups joining together

in public worship.

Making Clay Ganeshas

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font-family:Arial">Loving Ganesha by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami

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font-family:Arial">Web sites: http://www.hindu.org/

& http://www.himalayanacademy.com/

email: contact (AT) hindu (DOT) org

Himalayan Academy

Kauai's Hindu Monastery

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Kapaa, HI 96746-9304

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