Loving Ganesha
Sep. 22nd, 2026 09:46 pmAs is the contemporary respectful fashion, happy Ganesh Chaturthi for those who celebrate, which, in a way, includes me. For the sake of clarity, I do not literally believe in an elephant-headed humanoid diety any more than any other Gods, except Nature itself and I don't even grant that personification within our ken. Outside of naturalistic pantheism, I consider the Gods to be metaphors, mythical personifications of concepts both abstract and concrete, and the rituals surrounding them to serve both the sociological purpose of community identity and for dramaturgical aesthetics. Heretical? Certainly, and when have I ever been otherwise? At least this way I personally avoid the Scylla of irrationalible magical thinking and Charybdis of grey vulgar atheism.
All that said, there is a lot of charm in Sri Ganesha, the Pratham Pujya of Hinduism and the recipient of devotion in Jainism and even Buddhism. He is the God of Beginnings, and of Obstacles (both removing them and putting them in place). His big head represents his wisdom and intellect, his belly a cosmological holding, and his broken tusk represents a break in intellectual thought and, sometimes, even a weapon. With rodent appeal, Ganesha has a rat, which is both his vehicle and helps him find hidden places (or knowledge), and must be reined in due to its propensity to steal things. I've seen modern suggestions that the multiple arms represent the ability to multitask. There are, of course, many variations on the story of Ganesha that could fill volumes, but these comments at least capture some core, common characteristics.
Apart from this recognition, an important aspect of festivals is food, and for Ganesh Chaturthi, I made an attempt at Uadiche Modak (soft rice flour dumpling with a centre of coconut, dessicated and shredded, and jaggery). Delicious, but with one small and critical failing on my part - I tried to mix coconut flour with the rice flour for extra taste and, well, they don't play well together. Degrees of failure are the price of innovation. Anyway, I have my own Ganesh shrine at home which receives more attention that anything else; an impressive mutri (statue) is inherited from Rick, who was rather fond of Hinduism, two rats with offerings and a guardian from Nitul, who knows all this better than I ever will, a puzzle box from Anton, a Balinese dolphin from my last visit, and two guardian bookends from my first visit some twenty-four years ago.
All that said, there is a lot of charm in Sri Ganesha, the Pratham Pujya of Hinduism and the recipient of devotion in Jainism and even Buddhism. He is the God of Beginnings, and of Obstacles (both removing them and putting them in place). His big head represents his wisdom and intellect, his belly a cosmological holding, and his broken tusk represents a break in intellectual thought and, sometimes, even a weapon. With rodent appeal, Ganesha has a rat, which is both his vehicle and helps him find hidden places (or knowledge), and must be reined in due to its propensity to steal things. I've seen modern suggestions that the multiple arms represent the ability to multitask. There are, of course, many variations on the story of Ganesha that could fill volumes, but these comments at least capture some core, common characteristics.
Apart from this recognition, an important aspect of festivals is food, and for Ganesh Chaturthi, I made an attempt at Uadiche Modak (soft rice flour dumpling with a centre of coconut, dessicated and shredded, and jaggery). Delicious, but with one small and critical failing on my part - I tried to mix coconut flour with the rice flour for extra taste and, well, they don't play well together. Degrees of failure are the price of innovation. Anyway, I have my own Ganesh shrine at home which receives more attention that anything else; an impressive mutri (statue) is inherited from Rick, who was rather fond of Hinduism, two rats with offerings and a guardian from Nitul, who knows all this better than I ever will, a puzzle box from Anton, a Balinese dolphin from my last visit, and two guardian bookends from my first visit some twenty-four years ago.