When Saturday comes, Mala and Trenti goes to the Harold Washington Library located on 33rd N State St. They sit by some book cases in the back where a table is in the center and they are near a big window view where they can see everything from up top. They are the only ones at the library because it is 9:45am.
"So can I inform you about the festival celebration?" She asked.
"Sure," he said.
"So... Ganesh Chaturthi is a 10-day festival marking the birth of the elephant-headed deity Ganesha, the god of prosperity and wisdom. It is a festival celebrated mainly by the Maharashtrians, the people of Maharashtra state. It was started by Lokmanya Tilak, a nationalist, and an independence activist. It begins on the fourth day (chaturthi) of the month of Bhadrapada (August–September), the sixth month of the Hindu calendar. At the start of the festival, idols of Ganesha, are brought at homes/societies with great enthusiasm, shouting the words 'Ganpati Bappa, Moriya!' and many times, with lots of dance and music . Then the idol is placed on raised platforms in homes or in elaborately decorated outdoor tents. The worship begins with the pranapratishtha, a ritual to invoke life in the idols, followed by shhodashopachara, or the 16 ways of paying tribute. Amid the chanting of Vedic hymns from religious texts like the Ganesh Upanishad, the idols are anointed with red sandalwood paste and yellow and red flowers. Ganesha is also offered coconut, jaggery, and 21 modaks (sweet dumplings), considered to be Lord Ganesha’s favourite food.
The idol of Lord Ganesha is kept for either one and a half days, three days, five days, seven days, ten daus, or 21 days, before visarjan. Visarjan is the day when the immersion of Lord Ganesha's idol takes place in river, sea or any other water body. The idol of Ganesha is taken to the respective water body and immersed into water with great triumph and enjoyment. People dance on drum beats on almost half the way to the seas while going for 'visarjan'. Songs worshipping Lord Ganesha can be heard on loud speakers, almost everywhere in Maharashtra. After performing the rituals, and other important traditions, the idol of Lord Ganesha is immersed into water. The other days, that is the days before 'visarjan', are celebrated with as much joy as the last day. There are various competitions held in buildings, like drawing competition, dance competition, etc. and also competitions that include making a Ganesha idol from clay or making and decorating a 'mandap'.
'Mandap' is a roof like structure, where the big idols of Lord Ganesha are placed in societies or on the corners of roads.
Yes, the government orders to make mandaps and place the Ganesha idol on some empty places on roads, so that the travellers can pray to God on their way.
The people not only go for watching and admiring the idols that are kept for public, but also go to various different buildings and houses, to take blessings of Lord Ganesha. The people that come to your society are not only your friends and relatives, but even strangers! And they are welcomed with the same warmth and happiness as others. That's the speciality of Indian people and festivals, matter who they are, they are given the same hospitality and respect. This is about Ganesh Chaturthi. You want about Janmashtami?
"Yeah please share, this is getting interesting babe,"
"Oh I forgot to mention, modak and ladoo, which are Lord Ganesha's favourite. So...Janmashtami, also known as Krishna Janmashtami or Gokulashtami, is a major Hindu festival in India and celebrates the birth of Lord Krishna, who happened to be the eighth incarnation or avatar of Lord Vishnu, the supreme God of the Hindus. The eighth day of the Bhadrapada month or Ashtami as per Hindu lunar calendar marks Janmashtami. It is believed that Krishna was born in a dungeon of Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, on this day at the clock struck midnight. Krishna is the god of love, tenderness and compassion. Hindu mythology portrays him as a prankster, a gentle lover, a universal supreme being and child-like God. The narrative and stories of Lord Krishna’s life are referred to as Krishna Leela. According to the tale, Krishna was born in the Yadava clan of Mathura to Queen Devaki and her husband, King Vasudeva. Devaki had a brother, Kansa, a tyrant, who along with some other demon kings was terrorising Mother Earth. Kansa had usurped the throne of Mathura from his father, the benevolent King Ugrasen. Mother Earth took the form of a cow and went to Lord Brahma, the creator God of Hinduism, with her plight. Lord Brahma then summoned Lord Vishnu, who assured Mother Earth that he would take birth as Lord Krishna to end this tyranny.
Kansa agreed to let Devaki get married to Yadava prince Vasudeva in the hopes of taking over the Yadava clan too. When Devaki was getting married, Kansa was told by fortune tellers that one of the offsprings of Devaki would bring his end. In his paranoia, Kansa brandished his sword and decided to kill Devaki right there and then. But after Vasudeva begged for his wife’s life and promised to hand each child to Kansa as soon as it was born, Kansa let go of his sister, and instead imprisoned Devaki and Vasudeva, and made sure that none of Devaki’s children survived. As soon as a child was born to Devaki, Kansa would smash the child’s head against the walls of the prison. However, on the night of Krishna’s birth, as soon as Krishna was born, a bright light filled the prison and Vasudeva was woken up by a divine voice that guided him to take Krishna across the Yamuna and leave him with his dear friend Nandraja, the head of the Gopa tribe. Nandraja and his wife Yashoda had also given birth to a baby girl that night, so Vasudeva secretly carried baby Krishna across the Yamuna river, which was no longer in its calm state, but instead was raging as if it were the ocean. Just then Lord Vishnu’s Shesh Naag, the giant multi-headed snake came and helped Vasudeva carry Krishna safely across the river. Vasudeva went to Nandraja’s house and exchanged the babies. His heart was filled with a deep sadness, as if he had left a part of his soul behind. He headed back to the prison with the exchanged baby, who gave a loud cry as soon as she lay next to Devaki. The guards informed Kansa that Devaki’s eight child was finally born. Devaki begged Kansa not to kill the baby, she pleaded that the prophecy must have been wrong as her son was meant to bring the end of Kansa but to no avail. When Kansa tried to kill the exchanged baby, it transformed into Goddess Durga and warned him that his death had arrived in his kingdom, and would come back to punish Kansa for his sins. That Kansa would find no peace and keep thinking about his end, she said that she could kill him then and there, but Kansa’s end had to be timely, and then the goddess vanished. However, Kansa was certain that the prophecy may not be entirely true given that if his slayer was born inside the prison, he would have surely killed him. With a slight relief, Kansa finally freed Vasudeva and Devaki, and let them live in a separate palace. After some days, Vasudeva shared what happened on the night of Krishna’s birth, and though Devaki was sad, she was relieved to hear her son was safe. Days later, news of Nandraja and Yashoda’s son’s birth reached the kingdom, people were gushing about the unique twinkle in the child’s eyes, about how he was always happy and how his mere presence spread joy and cheer all around. Krishna grew up unaware of his destiny, far away from all the chaos of Mathura, in Gokul, with Nanda Baba and his wife Yashoda, as his foster parents. This is just the story of Lord Krishna. There's still a lot about Janmashtami, what is done in the festival, etc. Should I tell you about that too?"
"This is a ton of information but I love it, please spare more, we got the whole day ahead of us," he said making himself comfortable wrapping his arms around her shoulders.
Author Ciara Webb
Story written by Ciara Webb
Co-author Mansi Rupesh More
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