Ganesh the Instant God – the real Change Agent
Mumbai celebrates many Gods in a calendar year. Some with intensity, some with fervor and few amidst the frenzy of colour, light and sound. Most religions have their favourite Gods/Godesses/Scriptures & Prophets & cities tend to be a high point of cultural velocity. Mumbai has an array of reigions and Gods to choose from,godess Durga during – Navratri, Allah during Ramzan & Jesus during the week of Christmas.
Ganesh Chaturthi is one such festival, omnipresent and enormous than any other. Ganesh chaturthi, is integral to the city of Mumbai and its belief system. Ganesh is in many ways is the presiding deity of Mumbai. The Mumbaikar’s love for Ganesh God spills outdoors. People in Mumbai wear him around their necks, carry him in their wallets and install him on their car dashboards (fashionably ornamented & garlanded). Ganesh is the closest to the idea of a carnival if Mumbai was to have one.
What makes Ganesh accessible to the millions in this city of dreams. Is Ganesh a simple God in an otherwise complex weave of Hindu mythology, is that what sets him apart, maybe not !
Ganesh is inherently not simple. The image of Ganesha is a composite one. Four animals - man, elephant, the serpent and the mouse. Surrounded by sweets, adorned by jewels, pot-bellied. All these symbols individually and collectively have deep symbolic significance. Though Ganesha is popularly held to be the son of Shiva and Parvati, the myth surrounding his birth of Ganesh is a complex one. He may have been created by Shiva, or by Parvati, or by Shiva and Parvati, or appeared mysteriously and was discovered by Shiva and Parvati.
Yet, what makes him the peoples God, what makes him, the go-to God for people with diverse cultural, religious and economic back grounds.
Firstly, Ganesh is a brand of a productive God. He is the God of prosperity; he can remove obstacles and pave paths that lead to success. He is an enabler of progress and prosperity. He in many ways celebrates success.
He is a fun brand. Visually he is fantastic looking – he loves jewelry & sweets. He is festive, he is a carnival. There are no biases – he is available for anyone who seeks him. He is available for film stars, politicians, underworld dons and the common man paralley. Ganesha is a culmination of food, music & wealth.
He does not demand loyalty. He is one God who has perfected the attachment-detachment cycle. He is approachable because he does not demand constant attention, instead he chooses to detach every year and re-emerge with more solutions the next year. His devotees celebrate his departure as much as they welcome his arrival. He is the short –term progress focused God that this economic city needs.
Ganesh is the perfect equilibrium between force and kindness and between power and beauty, between long-term & short term. Ganesh has the power to move immediate concerns and provide short term relief.
Ganesh is the perfect sized portable God for the city of Mumbai & is the perfect everyday God for its common man. Ganesha has the right amount of intensity to be a God and enough affection to be a friend. Devotion is celebration of time with God. Due to his various forms, Ganpati is the most marketable and easy to identify with God, no wonder, Ganesh is a mahotsav (a big festival) & not a religion.
Mumbai celebrates many Gods in a calendar year. Some with intensity, some with fervor and few amidst the frenzy of colour, light and sound. Most religions have their favourite Gods/Godesses/Scriptures & Prophets & cities tend to be a high point of cultural velocity. Mumbai has an array of reigions and Gods to choose from,godess Durga during – Navratri, Allah during Ramzan & Jesus during the week of Christmas.
Ganesh Chaturthi is one such festival, omnipresent and enormous than any other. Ganesh chaturthi, is integral to the city of Mumbai and its belief system. Ganesh is in many ways is the presiding deity of Mumbai. The Mumbaikar’s love for Ganesh God spills outdoors. People in Mumbai wear him around their necks, carry him in their wallets and install him on their car dashboards (fashionably ornamented & garlanded). Ganesh is the closest to the idea of a carnival if Mumbai was to have one.
What makes Ganesh accessible to the millions in this city of dreams. Is Ganesh a simple God in an otherwise complex weave of Hindu mythology, is that what sets him apart, maybe not !
Ganesh is inherently not simple. The image of Ganesha is a composite one. Four animals - man, elephant, the serpent and the mouse. Surrounded by sweets, adorned by jewels, pot-bellied. All these symbols individually and collectively have deep symbolic significance. Though Ganesha is popularly held to be the son of Shiva and Parvati, the myth surrounding his birth of Ganesh is a complex one. He may have been created by Shiva, or by Parvati, or by Shiva and Parvati, or appeared mysteriously and was discovered by Shiva and Parvati.
Yet, what makes him the peoples God, what makes him, the go-to God for people with diverse cultural, religious and economic back grounds.
Firstly, Ganesh is a brand of a productive God. He is the God of prosperity; he can remove obstacles and pave paths that lead to success. He is an enabler of progress and prosperity. He in many ways celebrates success.
He is a fun brand. Visually he is fantastic looking – he loves jewelry & sweets. He is festive, he is a carnival. There are no biases – he is available for anyone who seeks him. He is available for film stars, politicians, underworld dons and the common man paralley. Ganesha is a culmination of food, music & wealth.
He does not demand loyalty. He is one God who has perfected the attachment-detachment cycle. He is approachable because he does not demand constant attention, instead he chooses to detach every year and re-emerge with more solutions the next year. His devotees celebrate his departure as much as they welcome his arrival. He is the short –term progress focused God that this economic city needs.
Ganesh is the perfect equilibrium between force and kindness and between power and beauty, between long-term & short term. Ganesh has the power to move immediate concerns and provide short term relief.
Ganesh is the perfect sized portable God for the city of Mumbai & is the perfect everyday God for its common man. Ganesha has the right amount of intensity to be a God and enough affection to be a friend. Devotion is celebration of time with God. Due to his various forms, Ganpati is the most marketable and easy to identify with God, no wonder, Ganesh is a mahotsav (a big festival) & not a religion.
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