Poor Ganesha...

Come September, it is time for the festival of the first of Gods – Vinayaka. Vinayaka, Ganesha, Vignesh, Ganapathi, so on and so forth, his names are numerous. And for the record, I refuse to prefix Ganesha’s name with a “Lord”, he is not a knight of the British empire for God’s sake! And I am pretty sure he is happy with devotion with which we address him rather than a fanciful title.

Ganesha, is the first deity to be invoked before one commences any task – enterprise, travel, studies, wedding, religious ceremonies. But for all that, he is the most unassuming of all the Hindu Gods. From the most magnificient of temples to the most humble of adobes, Ganesha is happy to grace every nook and cranny and bless every soul and scrap. He is probably the only one of India’s multitude of deities who literally does justice to the adjective “omnipresent”. For his special day, he doesn’t demand elaborate rituals and festive food. He relishes kolukattai of course, but apart from that, he hardly demands anything. Simple prasad and a regular aarti is enough to please him on Vinayaka Chaturthi.

The unadulterated Vinayaka Chaturthi of, say, a decade back, meant simplistic devotion, good food and fun. Ganesha idols in sizes ranging from fit-in-a-child’s-palm to magnificient 10 foot-high statues, that reflected the might of the elephant god, adorned homes and streets. A handful of clay or turmeric moulded into a conical shape and adorned with sindoor sufficed for an idol in homes.

The festival of Vinayaka Chaturthi in its present form was conceived by Balagangadhar Tilak to promote unity and harmony through worship and cultural fanfare. He advocated setting up of Vinayaka idols in public places and community worship. Vinayaka statues made from clay, representative of nature, was to grace the occasion for a few days and then be submerged in water, to be returned to nature, thus symbolifying the cycle of birth and death and oneness with nature. And for people with a scientific bent of mind, an analogy to the law of conservation of mass or conservation of energy, can be drawn. In Vinayaka's benevolent smiling presence, cultural programmes would be conducted to bring together the masses and provide a respite from the monotony of life. It was very similar to the temple festivals celebrated once a year in almost all temples. The temple festivals fell at different times and had elaborate rituals, and not everyone was involved in organising them. Vinayaka Chathurthi was to unite people in worship and friendship all over India at the same time. As Vinayaka would go back to blend into nature at visargan, chants of "Ganapathi Bappa Morya, Pudhachya Varshi Laukar ya" meaning "Come back soon next year", rent the air.

The simple charm of the festival is now lost, it has deteriorated to a divisive affair that divides people and neighbourhoods into competing entities, rather than bringing them together. The simple festivities have deformed into a gaudy affair of blaring music and vulgar dancing.

Ganapathi idols prop up every few feet, all over Bengalooru. This is no sign of great devotion, people want to have their "own" idols. Neighbours refuse to mingle and for every few houses have their own pandal. And there are, of course, groups of individuals forming umpteen number of "youth" organisations. They put up banners a month ahead "welcoming"(?!?!) people to the Vinayaka Chaturthi festivities. Then comes Vinayaka Chaturthi, and therein lies the irony - there is no Ganapathi idol yet. OK, there are many, but some of these "welcoming" youth groups have not set up their idols yet. Wondering why? Well, even if you put up idols every few feet, there are only so many idols you can put up simultaneously. So, Ganapathi comes in installments, or phases, or... well, I don't know to phrase it. He keeps coming for another month. As one Ganapathi goes for visargan another takes his place.

Each idol stays in place 2-3 days, loudspeakers blare music, music like, to give an example, "Ava enna enna thedi vantha anjala..". No offense to the song, I like it as well. But I am not very sure, that is Ganapathi's favourite slokha. Idols come up next to wine shops. Very convenient, I guess, for people to raise a toast to Ganapathi. And if the presence of Ganapathi in the pandal coincides with a weekends, god forbid!

OK, take the Ganapathis present in their respective pandals on Chathurthi day, does anyone feel like going to the pandal and praying there? There is rarely a priest and often no devotees, there are only the "youth" organisation members. You are foolhardy, if not plain brainless, if you step up to pray there. As Ganapathi leaves for the visargan, he is not sent off with dignity either. The vulgar music reaches a crescendo and drunken dancing holds forth. I am pretty sure he is glad to leave and does not anticipate with pleasure, returning next year. This goes on and on for a month after the chaturthi.

And to make things worse, these idols are made of plaster of paris and coated with synthetic paints that are unsoluble in water and toxic. Atleast on that front, the government's efforts seem to be making some headway. It is estimated that about 50% of the idols this year were made of clay and used environment friendly paints.

All said and done, it cannot be denied that there are some bright spots. In the Ganapathi temple in our neighbourhood, Ganesh Chaturthi festivities were conducted in traditional fashion. Ganesha made his appearance a day before Chaturthi. The priest did the puja everyday. Two days after Vinayaka Chathurthi, the procession took place heralded by folk dancers and drummers. It was a sight to behold indeed.