The ten-day long celebration in honour of Ganpathi is the festival that defines Bombay. Communities vie with each other to erect larger and larger idols of the elephant headed God. The entire community comes together to pray, people come from across the town and queue up for hours at a time to see the more popular idols. Plays, often on socially relevant themes, are performed at the foot of the deity. Ganpathi loves modaks- the festival is the perfect excuse to indulge in the sweet made of coconut and jaggery.
"Ganpathi Bapa Morya."
A drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.
Rayna - I have learned so much from your Drabbles about festival time! I didn't know about this festival in honour of Ganpathi, so thank you for sharing it. That's a beautiful pair of 'photos, too. I can just taste those modaks! :-).
ReplyDeleteMe too! I have learned so much about your lovely country and it's culture.
ReplyDeleteAnd man, those sweet treats sound wonderful :)
Happy Saturday
Jules @ Trying To Get Over The Rainbow
Well written.
ReplyDeleteThe elephant head God is called Pra Pe Ka Neht (Pra means monk or Holy one – the next three words are the name) here in Thailand.
Have a nice day, Boonie
Lovely pics and traditions!
ReplyDeleteI'm seeing pink elephants now!
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderful sharing this with you through words and picture. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Margot. I've learned so much from you about your country and festivals. The pink elephants are cute.
ReplyDeleteMason
Thoughts in Progress
@ Margot- one of these days, I will write about Ganpathi. He's the cutest of the Gods, and his mother is pretty awesome too.
ReplyDelete@ Jules- they are yummy!
@ Boonie- Ganpathi is celebrate too, so could well be the same God. Thanks for sharing.
@ Fiona- thank you.
@ Alex- if you come to India, you will see Ganpathis everywhere, so good practice
@ Mary- my pleasure.
@ Mason- my favourite god, precisely because he looks so cute, and the things he does are pretty awesome too.
I love those pink elephants. That is my mental image of India. :D And I'm the only person in my fly who likes coconut... so me want modaks! :d but what is jaggery? :o)
ReplyDeleteI'm learning so much about Indian culture. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteCD
thank you for your kind offerings Natasha! I love reading about the festivals...and the food!
ReplyDeleteI love the vibrant colors of India. Pink elephants, blue gods, tasty treats...you definitely know how to throw a festival!
ReplyDeleteRayna, what's Jaggery?
ReplyDeleteThose little sweets pictured look filled with yummy, slippery goodness.
ReplyDelete@ Leigh - I am the only one in my family who loves coconut too :-(
ReplyDeleteAnd jaggery is made out of sugarcane juice, but is much less processed than sugar, so is more earthy in taste, and more healthy. It's brown in colour too.
@ Clarissa- come to India, and you will learn so much more :-)
@ Jan- festivals are always linked with food!
@ Carolyn- India is the land of awesome colours- no two ways about it.
@ Diane- it is made from sugarcane juice, but is less processed than sugar- brown in colour, and it comes in lumps moulded by hand, not grains.
@ KarenG - they are. They definitely are. And my mother makes the best ones in the Universe.