It's that time of year again. You can hear the drums beating. The lights are strung around town. Everyone's doorsteps are painted and idols line the street. Yep, it's the annual Ganesha Festival.
Hindus, devout and nominal, buy a Ganesha idol. Some are just trinket size, while others must be hauled on a truck bed. The idol is then carried home for worship. Food is offered, chants are sung and the worshiper pleads this "god" to remove their obstacles. A few days later, Ganesha is submerged in water (symbolically washing away the devotees sins...at least for a while). You see, this god is the "remover of obstacles". After all, his head was chopped off by his jealous father. Then replaced with an elephant head. What an over-comer!
I can laugh about how ridiculous this is at times. It seems downright silly to my kids that people would worship a hunk of clay shaped into an elephant-man and dunk it in their bathtub. Yet, I can't help but also grieve the seriousness of it all. This is reality. My neighbor invited me to the pooja at her apartment. It is all over the newspaper. Their are sales and special events for this festival. I can hear the drums right now. This is not some distant picture in a religion textbook of the "natives" worshiping a stone. This is here. Now. Modern civilization all around me.
Hindus, devout and nominal, buy a Ganesha idol. Some are just trinket size, while others must be hauled on a truck bed. The idol is then carried home for worship. Food is offered, chants are sung and the worshiper pleads this "god" to remove their obstacles. A few days later, Ganesha is submerged in water (symbolically washing away the devotees sins...at least for a while). You see, this god is the "remover of obstacles". After all, his head was chopped off by his jealous father. Then replaced with an elephant head. What an over-comer!
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