Gallery: Sweeping up Ganesh
The devotion that many Hindus harbour towards Ganesh can only be seen to be believed. This is especially so in Mumbai, where the annual Ganesh festival ‘Ganesh Chaturthi’ is the largest festival in the whole year, which this year fell on September 15th 2007. In the week prior to Ganesh Chaturthi, millions upon millions of devotees participate in the processions, rituals and jubilance of the festival.
Then, as a mark of their love (sarcasm intended) they leave His images scattered disgustingly all over beaches and streets throughout the city. A sacrilege to Ganesh and to the environment. How can people be so thoughtless?
September 28th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
From what we see we have to learn. What environmental friendly practices are in place in England? There was a similar bid Ganesh Chaturthi Festival in South end on sea.One way is to impose a disposal charge [a daxina] to the local council and see that the money is used to clear up the depisits.
September 28th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
This is totally shameful.And what are the Hindu swamis and gurus in India doing about this ?
September 29th, 2007 at 12:39 am
Crikey.. I have heard about the Ganesh Chaturti.. but this is something else, the beautiful murtis just left there.. why bother then with the festival? I used to naively think that all the murti would dissolve in the sea, if they were made out of mud and biodegradable materials (chocolate?)..
Congrats to who ever took these photos, maybe they would help to raise some awareness in other ‘Hindu media’
September 29th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
i dont think murthis are even supposed to be bought in shops.
its supposed to be one that you fashion yourself with mud from around your house. thats how we did it.
the ones bought in shops are made with plaster and painted with harmful chemical substances.
….not at all how you do it.
October 2nd, 2007 at 11:25 am
WHAT A SHAME, THIS DOESNT MAKE ME PROUD TO BE HINDU
October 2nd, 2007 at 7:42 pm
They are results of ignorance. It is wrong in part of the Hindu spiritual leaders and pujaris/puruhits. They are supposed to guide the devotees, and devotees follow their instructions. Most devotees does what they are asked to do or what they learned from past annual rituals.
In earlier days (even today in many parts of Bharat), all murtis were made-up of clay soil and quickly melts away once in water. Vedic rishis were Masters of Vision for harmonious living of men and environment. They personified rivers, mountains, trees, animals etc for human-beings to respect and live in a harmonious way. But today money and ugly fashion powers has taken over the ancient wisdoms of ethics, morality, enviornmental protection and conservation.
We are the masters of our own progress and destruction as well. If we don’t respect environment (physical as well as cultural) and degrade it, environment in turn will perish us.
Its also part of the failure of govts education system. Education system suppose to teach how to protect environment, physical as well as socio-cultural. Hindu janajagruti organizations urgently need to take-up this issue to create healthy ethical and environmental awareness.
And in our part, let we educate our fellow Hindus the dharmic/righteous path of doing ritualism. Dharma rakshati rakshitah, dharma protects those who protects dharma.
October 3rd, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Murtis should be made from clay and painted with vegi colours so that the rivers and seas are not polluted.
Crass consumerism has ruined our great religious festivals !!
We have to go back to the roots and see that the harmful practices that have crept into our rituals are removed.
October 5th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
I am absolutely disgusted at the disrespect shown to Ganesh ji. The people responsible for this should be flogged in public.
It is hypocrisy at its highest level.
October 6th, 2007 at 7:05 am
Each and every Hindu who were involved in this procession shall be ashamed of this act. If a person can’t create ganesh statues with clay for this procession pls do not do it. Why buy and waste your money? Ganesh will not shower his blessings for such kind of unbehaviorial, painful act. Give the money to charity u will definately get the blessings of Ganesh. Is this what is called Hindu culture? There are many other religions in this world but we are the only one who discriminate ourselves. Pls put a stop to this. If there is no other ways to show your love to god create only one clay statue of Lord Ganesh and ensure it is fully dissolved in the sea.
Pls look back there is so many other s laughing at us for our self discrimination.
October 13th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
This short articles makes a good statement.
A sacrilege to Ganesh and to the environment. How can people be so thoughtless?
There are three issues here
1) being sacrilege to Ganesh
2) and to the environment
3) How can people be so thoughtless?
As to Number 1 above.
Are we being disrespectful to Ganesh by leaving his murti all broken and scattered on the sand?
No we are not.
Why?
Because we are not attached to that man made object which is what that image becomes after the dipping ceremony. We do not worship the object and we are not attached to any objects.
The Hindus have been misunderstood by other faiths for worshipping an idol.
Hindus in reply tell them that we DO NOT worship the stone or the wood or the image. We tell them we only use the murti to focus or invoke the thought on God.
So why are we attached or saddened at the sight of broken images of Ganesh?
Imagine you have a picture of a God in your temple, as you do.
Now over the years it has become oily and dirty and clearly not worthy of keeping.
You then throw it away and replace it with a new one.
Were you upset at its destruction?
Why then should you be upset over an idol of Ganesh which are meant to be released in the sea anyway?
It no longer serves the purpose of invoking the thought of God and therefore it is just another statue and not a holy murti.
A Hindu does not become attached to the idol and here is the proof, crude and disrespectful as it may look.
October 13th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
I completely dislike the word IDOL.
It is meaningless and invokes nothing.
We Hindus therefore need to use the correct words when nonHindus refer to it as ‘idol’. We must correct them and say it is a murti and not an idol. The word ‘idol’ has been so overused that it may be difficult for us to replace it with ‘murti’ at first –but we must try.
Below is an edited article that explains what a murti is.
Taken from
http://www.sanskrit.org/www/Hindu%20Primer/murtisthapana.html
Within Hinduism there are special ceremonies where Murtis are formally installed in temples:- Murti Sthapana and Prana Pratishta
The word “murti” means sacred image and “sthapana” means “placing,”
and so the murti sthapana ceremony is the “placing of the sacred image.”
“Prana” means “breath” and “pratishta” means “establishing,” and so the Prana Pratishta ceremony is “establishing the breath” within the sacred image. In other words, it is bringing the sacred image to life.
There are two ways to understand the Murti Sthapana ceremony. The first is as a contract. An agreement is established between the Deity and a temple congregation: the Deity agrees to “descend” into the sacred image, and the congregation agrees to care for the Deity in the form of service, seva. The ceremony is literally the bringing and awakening of the Deity within the stone or metal image.
The other view is more theological. By definition God all-pervading and omni-present and so the idea of establishing the breath of the Deity within an image is impossible, God is already there.
The purpose of the ceremony is not to establish the Deity within the image, but to awaked the mind of the participates, through the power of ritual, to the presence of divinity within the sacred image.
At the beginning of the ceremony people see only stone or metal, but at the end they see God! The real installation takes place not in the stone or metal image, but in the minds of the participants. This is the power of ritual.
http://www.sanskrit.org/www/Hindu%20Primer/murtisthapana.html
When such a murti is treated disrespectfully many Hindus feel hurt. This is understandable. Those who seek to humiliate Hindus by saying ‘why should this cause hurt?’
Ask them destroy a photo of their favourite stars or painting or picture or of their parents pictures or family portrait or destroy their wedding album or their child hood photos or pictures of their loved ones.
If they are merely pictures and nothing more then why should it cause them hurt?
But Hindus can ‘destroy’ a murti and not feel hurt.
When a murti is uninstalled in a special ceremony, where they no longer have any relevance then Hindus do not feel hurt.
It’s a logic nonHindus cannot even begin to comprehend. Perhaps even some Hindus do not understand and that is why they seek to criticise and mock worshippers on their petty websites or chat-rooms.
Above we only talked about a manmade object. Now consider your own body.
Body and atman. The body is just a shell which is discarded once the body becomes old and withered. The body is likened to a worn-out garment. (Bhagvad Gita Chapter 2:22)
When the prana enters the human body, the body is given importance.
When the prana leaves the body we are no longer attached to this body and is burnt.
Holy men do not give much importance to the body. They worship the God that reside within the body. More understanding of this can be gained by reading up information from this website
http://www.dadashri.org/whomi2.html
Like wise with murtis.
October 13th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
As to Number two the issue with regards to the environment.
The damage and destruction to the environment is unforgivable and enough comments has been made above. I agree with those statements.
I would say ‘people are irresponsible rather then thoughtless.’ Im sure they can see and know the destruction they are causing to the environment but they just turn a blind eye to this. Irresponsible.
October 13th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
The third issue requires the spread of RIGHT knowledge.
Hindus must try EVEN harder to spread the message of the impact on the environment.
This is something the Government or the Local Council of Mumbai should have tackled. They know all the names of the groups that would be attending the ceremony and should have issued them with the criteria for making a Ganesh murti.
October 15th, 2007 at 8:41 am
Spirit said,
‘Are we being disrespectful to Ganesh by leaving his murti all broken and scattered on the sand?
No we are not.
Why?
Because we are not attached to that man made object which is what that image becomes after the dipping ceremony. We do not worship the object and we are not attached to any objects. ‘
Spirit, I understand what you are saying and you are 100% correct, but I still feel the destruction of the murti should be done in a respectful manner and not be left on the ground so people can trample all over it - because there are some non-Hindus out there who would relish that idea.
October 16th, 2007 at 11:56 am
namaste!
traditionaly ganesh murtis are made of clay with veg colors and the deity dissolves in contact with water!
how can any pujari tolreate to leave a murti of ganesh behind on the beach!
shame shame shame!
the VHP should see those photos and comment!
hari om narayana!
October 21st, 2007 at 9:59 am
True Sanatani,
You say
“but I still feel the destruction of the murti should be done in a respectful manner and not be left on the ground so people can trample all over it -”
I agree with what you say and this part of the ‘offence’ is covered by my second and third issues posted above by me and also by many Hindus who have expressed their horros at such disgraceful acts of irresponsibility above.
I dont think we need to worry about nonHindus trampling on them since they too will realise that Hindus are not attached to so called ‘idols’.
If any Hindus on that beach seeing this action by a nonHindu then why should they be upset? Hindus are the one who threw them away in the first place to rot on the sands. (But Im sure they are cleared up by the Government very quickly)
Certain NonHindus are more of idol worshippers then Hindus! Ask them for a copy of their holy books and trample on it and see what reaction they will have!!! If they feel offended then they are idol worshippers. (Dont try it mind you). Its still disrecpectful as far as Hindus are concerend to trample any books.
November 3rd, 2007 at 8:07 pm
Deeply Saddened
November 9th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
Sandhya, then what do you want to do? Become a muslim? What concept do you have about your religion? Please explain.
November 13th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
I trying to help the youths in the Dallas TX area identify themselves as Hindus. I have been trying to locate the OM sign in the medium as stickons for motor cars and for transfers on tee shirts but cannot find them easily and economically. Any help or guidance I will appreciate.
I happen to see somthing like that in one of the pictures.
November 25th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Namaste Spiritji,
I am so happy to read your posting. I too got emails with pictures and comments same like what we read in here. I wanted to write a reply, but could not.
I am extremely thankful that you have taken pains to “educate” any one who is interested in “learning” by explaining so well.
We need not be sad about immersion of the Murthi..But we need to be sad that we do not even know these very important points what spiritji has explained. I hope people who read this understand and take pains to communicate the same to the members of their family including children. This will help the children to face their class/school/college mates and reply what our philosophy tells.
re Environment, yes, the people need to grow and that again is possible only by education. I am very pleased to say that this year, in Bangalore, the authorities organized special area for immersion and after a few days they organized cleaning of the area. I think over a period of time, by spreading of more knowledge, by suggestions, advice and guidance and rules, these things will be taken care of, still we as members of the society need to feel the responsibility too.
—————————————–
Dan Madhu: re OM sticker
if you have still difficulty, pl do write a mail with the address to which it is to be sent to ” pairamblr@gmail.com” and we shall try to find a solution.
namaskaram
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February 29th, 2008 at 4:32 am
This is a shame on those who organize such festivals. If you want to discarde the “murti” of Ganesh, why not break it up into peices and then discard? Or better yet, donate it to a small local temple. They can always use statues there.
March 7th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
It is amazing how quickly Hindus start abusing themselves and the Sanatan Dharm.
Think! How many times have you seen Ganeshji statues on low tide?
Are you sure these weren’t placed by Islamic- Indian press?
Do you that they’ve been trying this for years?
For Ganesh’s sake people, ride yourselves of your complexes.
Look all its takes is a measly 1000 rupees to buy 10 idols of Ganeshji, bust them and scatter them at beaches.
Next day, they make fantastic photo-essay/news, denigrating the religion, turning Hindus against Hindus and giving the Government yet another reason to keep us and our religion under the chappal.
Give Bhagavan a break. He loves you.
Jai Bhagavan!
May 24th, 2008 at 5:44 am
blame the modern scientic inventions especially the western world. what ever the hindu culture followed in ancient times was totally environmental freindly. all this screwed up by the invention and tampering by the western
ideas in the name of quick fix and mindless invension and maketing. In ancient time the Ganesha was made out of clay and the flower and other decorative material was very easily degradable. The clay Ganesha was
impresed in the water which used to get dissolved in the water. Waterever
the pujas done during the festivities and the use of puja material were herbal and natural mineral contents what ever the residue which were left on the place and disposed in water bodies have either added to the purification process or dissolved as part of the nature. like-turmaric, kumkum which were made of pure ayurvedic components, kumkum-or gulal was made out of turmaric powder and atta. flowers which were natural and Tulsi and grass (spl. grass used for Ganesh puja) have plenty of medicinal values which worked against all contamination and anti epidamic . Where all these gone now. Now all these replaced by plster of
paris, chemical colour, plastic flower malas and so and so forth, who introduce this all these deadly chemical substance, not the hindus not even
indian all these environmental disastors comes from western counteries.
why blame the Indian for allthis.. come back to the nature, follow the time
tested, over 4000 years culture to save the world and environement. Support this cause and against it. It has become a habit and fasion for the
half backed indian-moderners to blame/bash india and indians without knowing the background of this age old cuture. Why indian festivities-how many know these half backed knows the answer. The community gathering and festivities always relieve the accumulated pressure and tension, so that people get recharged and forgetting their sad/sorrow and
bad past to start afresh a new life. So, every village and hobli have such festivities. If these were tobe reguar there would notbe any farmer’s sucide or self distruction of youth and young. who cares for these we want to make money and bash our own people and the country-modern -half baked intellectuals… vasan