About the Image(s)
This image is clicked last month, during the Ganpati Festival. ( Ganpati is Elephant faced God :- one of the most popular gods in Hindu religion). Every year he comes to our house to bless us and give us a chance to serve him, worship him. These days are one of the most festive times of any Hindu family's life.
People bring home Ganpati idol home , some of the idols are made from mud, PoP, metals, wood etc. The Mud and PoP idols are immersed in sea or lakes after the festival. Water and fire are considered as portals for offerings and rituals. So He is sent off to his house from this earth by immersing his idol into water. Its a huge thing here in Mumbai. Literally millions of people are on streets worshiping , praying, singing dancing while sending him off. I have clicked this image in South Mumbai beach which is called as Girgaon, this is where the taller idols are brought for immersion in the Arabian Sea.
you can see the sea of people, and in the frame you can also see how people are trying to capture his last darshan in their camera phones. the atmosphere here is something to experience, words do not do justice to it, One can see how faith moves people.
Stephen Levitas
(Group 32)There are three things that make our PSA Digital Dialogs so great: the photos themselves, the stories of the experience of taking them, and the stories of the places shown. Thank you for telling us the story of this festival and your personal impressions of it. Can you tell us some more? What are the tokens in the God's hands, the dancing position, the significance of standing on an eagle? Posted: 12/11/2023 17:47:23
Prasad Indulkar
This pose of the god is the imagination of the devotee's , mostly we ( devotee's) tell the idol makers to make such idols with poses from our imagination or based on some historical / mythological stories.
The tokens in his hands are his divine weapons, One is Mace, One is Cone shell - not a weapon but to make tune which resonates with the celestial sounds, One hand is lotus, another hand has pen, this god is related to intelligence and knowledge hence the pen, 6th Hand has some sort of axe kind of weapon.
Him standing on the eagle with one leg raised , is the famous dance pose of his father God Shiva. Eagle represents his birds eye view , with which he can be anywhere and observes the world and everything that happens.
Posted: 12/11/2023 23:37:45
Keith Francis
Wonderful story-telling -thank you. It's a good experience to see (even if just in images) and understand other culture's rites.
This is a great street photo - love it.
Posted: 12/16/2023 10:05:16
Andrew Klein
I agree, Prasad's windows into Indian life are fascinating, educational, and eye opening. Thank you. I love the picture. Great street photography showing the enduring, and I suspect ancient symbolism and the iPhone photographer bringing this into the present. When you say the taller idols are brought to the Arabian sea, is this one of those? Are there many this size? I must go to India! Posted: 12/16/2023 12:17:38
Kathleen Colligan
I agree! Posted: 12/16/2023 16:32:36
Prasad Indulkar
Ye Andrew, many idols are of this huge size, easily over 20 feet, the idol makers work round the year to make these, this festival and Navratri ( 9 Nights) , Holi are some of the festivals which are celebrated across my country in a very large scale and you will get lot of photo opportunities during these festivals. If you have to plan your visit to India do plan during these festivals. Posted: 12/17/2023 21:12:50
Laurie McShane
Prasad, you bring us so many amazing glimpses into your culture. This is a fantastic image - the highlighting of the idol by the sky, the explosion of color, and the cell phone recording it all are just stunning. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Posted: 12/16/2023 14:33:32
Prasad Indulkar
Thanks Laurie, My two cents to share my country's rich cultural heritage. Posted: 12/17/2023 21:16:59
Kathleen Colligan
You must have found your spot early to catch this amazing photo with so many worshipers . Thank you again for sharing your fascinating culture with us through your photos. Posted: 12/16/2023 16:38:59
Prasad Indulkar
Yes like for every other such festivals , we have to travel much earlier than the crowd to secure the best vantage points and to get the images we have visualised in our minds. I personally know many photographers who have been visiting this festival / day every year for 10-15 years now and every time they bring out something new, cause of the visualisation of what they want in thier pictures, once this day is done, they already have new ideas in mind for next years images. We have national level photography competitions based on this festival alone , where only images clicked during this festivals are allowed to be participated and still you get to see so much of variety every year. Posted: 12/17/2023 21:16:09
