Ganesh Chaturthi

Ganesh Chaturti is an auspicious day in Hinduism dedicated to Lord Ganesha, who is the remover of obstacles.  In India, it marks the start of the Ganpati festival (an 11 day festival that celebrates Lord Ganesha, who is also called Ganpati). Celebrating Ganpati was one of my favorite parts of my time in India.

I've been a bit homesick for India, so my friend took me to the temple to celebrate this auspicious day in the calendar.  It is only the second time I have been to temple in Nepal.  The first time was last year on Ganesh Chaturthi.  Visiting temples in India was one of my favorite things, but it is not something I can do often here.  Many temples do not allow foreigners.  I've been told a few theories/reasons (I'm not quite sure which are true and which are just speculation--if you do know more, please educate me!), such as they only want Hindus in the temple here, but what I have heard most is that they do not want foreigners eating beef and then entering the temple.  This is not an issue in India as beef is illegal in most of the country, and, therefore, there is no risk of foreigners eating beef and then entering the temple.  In Nepal, however,  there is quite a bit of beef available, so the risk is higher.

This year, I put together a whole plate of offerings for puja (act of worship), which had a coconut, 7 bananas, 7 diyas (lamps), 7 ladoos (sweets), 7 rupees, paan (betel nuts with spices in a leaf), a flower garland, and some grass. 7 is a lucky number for worship of Ganesh in Nepal, so worshippers usually bring things in multiples of 7  I also brought some incense. It was the first I had ever prepared my own puja offering (with the help of a friend, of course).

We went to the Kamladi Ganesh Temple, which was beautiful. It was beautiful in a very different way than the temples in India.  Many temples in India are more ornate yet simple, clean, and many are decorated with gold and marble.  This is not to say that they are all ornate and filled with gold and marble, but they have a different feeling. This temple was very colorful with different color paints and it was decorated for the Teej festival that was happening in Nepal at the time. There were colorful flags, banners paints, and garlands of flowers.  It felt good to be there.

It was a great experience, and I'm thankful for my Nepali friends' willingness to share their culture with me and take time to show me rituals that are so important to them. This was definitely a nice time of peace in a hectic start to the school year.

Here are a few pictures from our small puja at the temple.

Me with my puja offering outside the temple

Lighting the incense for my wish

Placing the diyas

My smart, beautiful, and wonderful friend Meenakshi, who took me to the temple

One of the biggest differences, for me, between going to temple and going to church is the kinds of things you pray or wish for.  As Christians, which is the religion I was raised in growing up, we are taught to pray and hope for God's will to be done in our lives. To me, this meant that we pray and hope and wish that God will do what he thinks is best, and our wants or wishes are secondary to his. When you go to the temple, you make a wish for something you want. I remember the first time I was told this. We were going to an especially auspicious temple on our way to Goa. It was the first big temple I went to and my Indian friends were telling me what to do-wash my feet, what to do with my hands, and where/how not to sit after. After they told me all this, I asked them "What do you say when your'e in front of the God?". They looked at me, very confused, and replied, "You make a wish, of course. Some people offer to do something in return if their wish comes true." I literally responded, "You mean, I can wish for whatever I want?". They were all very confused at my bewilderment and awe.  I sat for the rest of the few hours in the car trying to ponder what I could possibly wish for. I felt like I didn't want to waste my wish on something silly or stupid. And it felt, for me, very strange to decide what I wanted and wished for in my life, and to ask for it from God. It was a very new, strange, and liberating feeling.

To this day, the temple is a place for reflection and peace, and I'm thankful to those who share their special places with me