A Wandering Mind

This is the second day of Navaratri. It is said that the first three days are dedicated to Parvati, the next three to Lakshmi, and the final three to Saraswati. Yesterday, I posted about the Kollur MookambikaTemple in Karnataka . For today’s post, I have chosen a temple I have visited often, but never written about. It is a temple I once got lost in, but love visiting again and again. The temple is so huge that I don’t think I can ever see all of it. Each time I visit, I get to see something I have missed on my earlier visits. It’s not just the architecture of this temple, which is brilliant, but the deity herself draws me repeatedly. The first time I visited the temple, I remembering standing outside her shrine, staring at her, and being so caught in the moment, that I didn’t even remember to pray. I vividly remember my mother nudging me, reminding me that this was a temple! Since then, I have visited the temple at least half a dozen times, but the same thing happens to me each a...

The ten day festival of Ganesh Chaturthi  is coming to a close. Tomorrow, the idols will head to the sea, amidst chants exhorting Him to come back early next year. Meanwhile, come with me, as I take you through some of the Ganesha Pandals I went to, this year... Matunga remains one of my favourite places to visit at this time.. Here are some of the Ganeshas we saw there...

While I enjoy going to see all the Ganpatis in their various avatars around Mumbai during the ten days of Ganeshotsav, it is those with a message which really touch my heart. Among my favourite ones - one I have been seeing for almost 20 years now, and which is located right outside my college - is the Ruia Naka Ganpati. 

The ten day Ganesh Chaturthi celebration is one festival celebrated by one and all, at least in Mumbai. Rich or poor, the devout bring the Lord home, and spend the ten days immersed in the festivities - offering prayers, enjoying the offerings, or maybe just taking in the sights and sounds of the festival.

Since we are not performing the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations at home this year, I am sharing images from the celebrations at my mom's place.. All photos have been clicked by my sister, Kanthi.  Celebrations begin with prayers to Gauri, a day before Ganpati arrives. 

Ganesh Chaturthi is here, and all around me yesterday were people bringing their Ganesha home. Usually this is a time when my home is buzzing with activity, but this year I have a break since we can not perform the puja. I am planning to visit a few pandals around our home, though, so will try to post more photos.... P.S. Incidentally, I just realised that this is my 555th post on the blog!!

What a week it has been!! I was just recuperating from a bout of the flu, and looking forward to catching up with all my writing, and all that I had missed.... The festival season was just about to begin, and I was looking forward to writing about all the festivals we will be celebrating this month..... And then, while I was busy preparing for the most elaborate celebration of the month, my left hand middle finger suddenly showed a slight swelling. Assuming it to be nothing important, I went on with the work, and managed to perform the Varalakshmi puja without too many problems. But by Friday night, the swelling was too big and painful to ignore, and a visit to the doc told me that the finger was infected, and filled with pus! So, here I am, today, with the finger bandaged, and managing to type with one hand after a long time.... Obviously I cant write much, so I shall just leave you with photos of Varalakshmi puja at home.... Incidentally, this is the first time I performed the puj...

Any festival is a reason to celebrate, and Pongal happens to be one of the important ones. Here is the kolam welcoming you to our home....

Karthikai could possibly be called the South Indian equivalent for Diwali. While Diwali for us means Ganga-snanam (purifying bath), new clothes and of course, crackers, it is Karthikai for which all the lamps come out in full force... especially the earthen ones! The festival is celebrated over 3 days - the first day is called Bharani Deepam, the second is called Annamalai Deepam, and the third is Sarvalaya Deepam. The second is the main day, when a huge lamp is lit on the holy mountain of Thiruvannamalai , symbolising the form of Shiva as a never ending pillar of light (Yes, that's another long story, one I dont have time to write right now!). 

The Chedda Nagar Murugan Temple has an interesting way of celebrating Navaratri. The focal point of the celebration is the elaborate homam (sacrifice) which is conducted over all the nine days of the festival. The temple is packed with devotees waiting for a glimpse of the sacrifice offered in front of a pot of water, which is invested with the power of the sacrifice, and then poured over the idol of the goddess. Sitting for any part of the homam is impossible when it comes to Samhith, and I have no hopes of attending any of the events there for the next few years. However, there is something which draws even Samhith to the temple religiously for all the nine days..... This is the image of the goddess made for the homam . Every day, for nine days, the decoration changes, and the image represents a different form of the goddess. It might depict a story, or just a form of the goddess, but it is interesting enough for Samhith to want to go and see which arrangement h...

Over the last ten days, I have taken you along on a tour through the South Indian celebration of Navaratri in Mumbai. It is now time for something different. I usually try to take Samhith for the Ramleela as well as other Navaratra Pandals. Dandiya is something I havent been able to introduce him to, and that is mainly because I dont dance at all! However, if there is one celebration we manage to catch, it is the Bengali Durga Puja. Somehow, the image of Mahishasura Mardini seems to attract me each year, as do the decorations..... So, here is the Chembur Durga Puja this year......

Some of you might be bored of Kolus by now, after seeing so many over the last few days! However, before I close the Navaratri chapter for this year, here are the last three kolu arrangements for this year..... The Fine Arts Society, Chembur , has a mammoth 15 steps Kolu which draws visitors over all the ten days of the festival. Besides, there is also usually an interesting decoration based on a theme.  This year, the theme was a dual one - Of Andal and Meera, represented picturesquely with handmade dolls!

Some of you have been wondering where we get all the ideas for our kolus. The answer is actually quite simple - from each other! We keep looking out for ideas, and happily pick up others's ideas for our own kolu! Why else do you think Samhith is so eager to go and visit others' kolus? Besides, creativity does run in the family! Growing up, I kept hearing about the fantastic and innovative arrangements my uncles made when they were younger, and Shankar's uncles and aunts have a very creative streak too! No wonder Samhith is so enthusiastic about this!

Any festival signifies a hectic time, but none more so than Navaratri! We have to visit all our relatives and friends to see what they have come up with for the festival, catch up with all the kolus in the vicinity, see the latest arrangement at the temple, and over and above all this, we also have to play host to everyone who visits us! It can get really hectic, especially with school on in full swing, but its an enjoyable ten days! This is practically the only time of the year we get to meet so many of our said relatives and friends. Everyone is too busy the rest of the year with their own lives to go and meet anyone else! Besides, we also get some wonderful ideas for our kolu next year!  Since the people we visit are almost usually the same, the dolls and kolus are almost usually the same too! Only sometimes do we see something new, so this time, I decided not to bore you all with the same kolu pics from everyones' houses, but just some pics of things I found special or inter...

For the last three years , the focal point of our Navaratri Kolu has been Samhith's train set. Our entire decoration is arranged around the track, and o0ur tunnel last year was a huge hit with all the kids! It was no surprise therefore that Samhith wanted a tunnel this year too! With the idea of giving you all something different to look forward to, we have set up a village this year around the Kolu steps. Without more ado, let me invite you into our home for our kolu.... This is what you see as soon as you step in...

Its time for yet another festival - one which gives me the maximum opportunity to use my creativity - Navaratri - the festival of nine nights.  These nine nights (and days) are dedicated to the goddess in her myriad forms, and this festival is a celebration of not just the mother goddess, but also her creations. For us, South-Indians, Navaratri is a time for the Bommai Kolu (or Golu) , a series of steps with dolls placed on them, and also a time for socialization. The kolu represents the different stages and aspects of life. The bottom steps represent life as we know it - as humans. We therefore use them to depict scenes from life. The higher steps are meant to represent our quest for divinity - which is represented by dolls showing stories from mythology involving gods and demigods. The highest steps are used to show the Gods, who are, after all, believed to be above us all! Apart from the dolls placed on the steps, we also decorate an area around the steps, usually bas...

Those are the words which resound through the air as we bid goodbye to the Lord. Literally, they would translate to 'Glory to the Lord! Come again soon next year', but to the devotees who bid goodbye to the Lord with these words, it means so much more. 

Tomorrow , we bid goodbye to Ganesha, and have to wait for one full year before he arrives again. I have taken you along as I visited Ganeshas all over Mumbai, and there is just enough time to share with you the last one for this year........ This one is the one in our colony - the Chedda Nagar Ganpati.

A festival is all about getting together, and what symbolizes it more than the Ganesh Chaturthi which brings together the most disparate of Indians? On the 9th day of the festival, as the Lord readies to go back to his abode, Arti from  My Yatra Diary  has managed to get together 4 of us bloggers to write our own versions of the way we celebrate the festival.  My contribution is about the Ganeshas we made at home.... and Santosh from Bangalore, who writes on Huchchara Santhe writes about the Gauri and Ganesh Puja celebrated all over Karnataka. Abhi from Be the Geek , like Samhith, seems to love the Prasad at the various Ganpati Pandals all over Mumbai.. and Mercury from FZed Chronicles talks about the celebrations in Goa. Its a beautifully put together post, so please do go over and read it! Ganesh Chaturthi Celebrations - Transcending Virtual Boundaries, Bringing Bloggers Together Last but not the least, Thanks Arti for this...

Matunga is a place closely associated with South Indians living in Mumbai. I remember braving the train crowds as a child, visiting Matunga to see the Ganpatis, and especially the serial lights strung up all along the roads. I was then brought here by my uncle. Later, as I studied at Ruia College, I no longer needed anyone to accompany me. The ten days of the festival used to be busy ones for me, as I explored every lane looking for some interesting Ganeshas or at least some interesting decorations. Time has moved swiftly since then, and now, I take Samhith along to show him the Ganeshas I have enjoyed watching for so many years!