Akshay and Mohit, two of our local Indian friends, came with us to the river. I am really glad that they helped us, because otherwise we wouldn’t have been sure about what to do. And they brought more sweets for our Ganesha. As soon as we left the flat it started to rain, so I think Ganesha was happy with us.
So we went to the river and found a guy who would take our Ganesha into the river and submerge him. First though, you have to pray for him with a candle, then you crack the coconut and pour the milk on him, and finally you eat the sweets (yum). Our Ganesha got prayed for together with a much bigger idol (the little one on the plate is mine):
Then it’s time to go swimming. The river is so dirty and cold, I feel bad for all the guys who do it; they get paid for each one they take out though, so hopefully they make a bit of money in the process. Ganesha gets submerged three times, and on the third time he is let go to sink to the bottom. The guy brings back some mud from the bottom of the river, which you have to keep until next year when Ganesha comes again. Here you can see our little Ganesha being held up by the guy with the white bandana on his head, just before being submerged; there are lots of other idols being submerged around him too.
One of the best parts of the Ganesh Festival is all the sweets. Everyone bring sweets, many of them home-made, like modak and shev bundi, and you pass them out to all the other people around you. I think maybe because we are white, everyone wanted to give us their sweets so we got to try so many good things. Another great part of the festival is all the music, dancing and throwing powder paint! We got completely covered. I felt like a pink smurf.
I’m really glad we participated in the Ganesh Festival. It’s one of the most fun things we’ve done in India so far.
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