Sep 272012
 

A New Beginning for desi Traveler- A family travel blog from India

Desi Traveler has moved to own domain http://DesiTraveler.com from the earlier hosting on BlogSpot. I was convinced by various blogs and blogger friends that this is the way to go. I am also told that it will have some hiccups in the beginning but then everything will be OK.
So I was wondering what to write for our first blog post on our own domain and then I remembered the beautiful post by Arti about Ganpati celebrations as this is Ganpati festival now.  So I thought what could be better than writing about Ganpati who is the first to be remembered before doing anything new and auspicious. Not only in India but in other countries like Thailand, Burma, Bali island in Indonesia, Cambodia, Nepal, parts of China also Ganpati is first to be remembered and his idols adorn the entrance to all temples including a lot of Buddhist temples in these countries.

Om Ganeshay Namah J


So friends here I am with my very own post about Ganpati this year, last year I wrote about the Green Ganesha initiative in our society, and I am happy to say that this year more housing societies have taken the initiative forward and you find more green Ganesha.
I am attaching some pictures from our own society this year with the green Ganesha pictures of celebrations. I am sure the modak munching god will be happy that he is driving the effort to save mother earth.
Below are links to some famous Ganesha temples in the country, where I have been fortunate enough to go. Please add the famous Ganesha temples you have been in the comments list,  you never know when I may get a chance to be there.
1.       Siddhivinayak Mumbai
putting garland on eco friendly ganpati idol with priest
Garlands For Ganpati
Let me also narrate a small story about Skinny Ganesha. Now we all know Ganesha has a sweet tooth for modaks and one of his names is Lambodar (big stomach….) and he is famous for eating the whole granary and storage of Kuber, only to be appeased by modak given by his mother. So all Ganeshas we see are as they say from “Khate Peete Ghar key” and I must say desi Traveler a bhakt of Ganesha is as well endowed as his beloved god.
a rare Ganesha idol made with metal alloy
A Rare Form Of Ganesha
Anyways coming back to the point many moons ago me and Missus were traveling in the interior of Madhya Pradesh near Panna National park and Khajuraho, and we visited this small shop selling souvenirs made by tribal artisans from deep interiors of Madhya Pradesh. What caught my eye is a metal Ganesha who was devoid of his potbelly and it seemed is on his way to get 6 packs. I was puzzled and asked the shopkeeper how come the Ganesha is so thin and the answer this guy gave me opened my eyes and gave me the new meaning of the famous Doha by Bhakt Kavi Tulasi Das
“Jaki rahi bhavana jaisi, prabhu murat dekhi tin taisi.” 
(A man sees God the way he wants to see him/her)

Ganapati puja in a pandal
Ganpati In Garden
The shopkeeper said Sir, the poor tribal’s don’t have enough food to eat and they work very hard in the forests to feed their family, and they never get fat, and most of them may have never seen a fat person in their  village, so how do you expect them to make a potbellied Ganesha? They are making Ganesha as they see people around them who are lean and thin. Well, that answered my question and decided to bring the thin Ganesha home, as I think it is a very rare form of Ganesha by devotees who work very hard and see god in their own image.
 

  This is the only thin Ganesha that I have ever encountered and am sharing the pictures here with you, a similar sized idol of Ganesha as he is normally worshiped is next to it for you to see the difference. Another difference that you will notice is that the trunk of the tribal Ganesha is trumpeting, unlike the normal Ganesha whose trunk is on his belly. I am not sure why the trunk is like this either to give blessings or as the tail of the mooshak ( mouse) is touching the underside of his mouth giving him tickles.

huge Ganesha idol found in the ruins of Hampi temple
Giant Ganesha of Hampi
 Whatever the case may be it only adds to the thousand forms of Ganesha that we keep on discovering.I guess I will have to make another trip to the tribal area find out more about it. The Ganesha you see below is from a recent trip to Hampi and this idol is easily more than 15 feet tall.
Please feel free to share this post with your friends on Facebook, Google + and twitter and subscribe by email.With this my friends I close this post on the new domain, would love to hear from you. Happy Ganpati to you all.

  4 Responses to “A Rare Ganpati”

Comments (4)
  1. This is very interesting Prasad. Thank you for sharing 🙂 I hope you are well.

  2. Thanks D. Nambiar….. one wonders how many new “roops” of Ganpati one will continue to discover…

  3. It was interesting to read about the thin Ganapati and the trumpeting Ganapati.
    Nice post, Desi Traveler. 🙂

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