Non-Maharashtrians who bring home Lord Ganesha
Be it Gujaratis or Bengalis, everyone irrespective of community, worship the lord with utmost devotion
"Shree Ganeshay Namaha!" is a common chant among all Hindus on every occasion, irrespective of their communities. Lord Ganesha is the lord who is first worshipped by everyone, be it a Maharashtrian, Gujarati, Bengali, etc. And today, we are talking about people who irrespective of their community worship the lord whole heartedly and with utmost devotion. Yes, we are talking about those devotionally inclined people who bring home Lord Ganesha every year, in spite of not belonging to the Maharashtrian community.
Vashi resident, Caroline Mallik says that it is because of her sons Varun and Vikas that they bring home the lord, since they love to celebrate every festival with pomp. Unlike most kids, they are extremely religious and the best part is that they have all the chants and aartis thoroughly learnt. Caroline says, "My family brings home the lord and follows all the rituals in our own special way. We have been bringing home Ganesha since five years now, and we did so while we were in Hyderabad as well. Being married in a Hindu family, I am influenced by the rituals; in fact both my kids are very fascinated with the intricacies about our religion; they sing the aartis, help me prepare bhog which is usually sheera, khichadi etc. And, to be noted, there's no fixed duration of lord's stay at our home, sometimes its 1.5 days, sometimes 3 or 5."
Another Bengali family, Subhash and Pratima Kundu have started bringing Lord Ganesha since last year, just after they shifted base from Kolkata to Navi Mumbai. Caroline, although being a non- Hindu herself loves the customs and rituals attached to the festival. In fact, it would be astonishing to know that Caroline was the one who initiated the celebration of Ganpati festival at their home. "We all know the aartis and stotras so well that all the three days we perform everything as per the tradition. Bappa surely brings in happiness to our home, the moments when we decorate the house and prepare for the festival are very interesting; however, it is very sad to bid adieu to Bappa so early," mentioned Caroline.
Kharghar residents Anurag and Santvana Srivastava have been bringing home the lord since four years now, and this is the fifth year of their celebration. "I was always religiously inclined and wanted to bring home Ganpatiji and worship him. However, my husband was not inclined towards religion in the past, and I didn't want to get the lord home without his consent. It was one day when Anurag came up to me and said that let's bring home Ganpati this year, and I believe that Ganpatiji himself blessed him to initiate this idea. Since, then we have been celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi for 1.5 day at home," narrated Santvana. Her two children 12-year-old Sanskriti and 4-year-old Aditya and her father-in-law are the ones who are involved in the rituals.
The Srivastava family has never involved any priest for the traditional rituals, it is Santvana who does the sthapana and then there's the akhanda diya that the family lights during the sthapana. "I love the custom of haldi kumkum, which is the main programme at our home every year," added Santvana.
Seawoods residents Bhuvana and Ramkrishna Nair have been welcoming the lord since 16-years now. The family started bringing home Ganesha on the request of their only son Arun, since he loved the lord's appearance, says his father Ramkrishna. He adds, "Since the time, we have started bringing the lord home, he has taken care of all our problems forever, like they say happens in movies. In fact, we have a five-day function at home wherein we invite people for lunch every day. Our Ganesha is a little different since his trunk turns up on the right hand side, his complexion is slightly dark and there's a mark of vibhuti on his forehead."
Pratima mentioned, "Ganpati is big celebration for our family since he is the one who has given us everything we have today. It might sound astounding, but both our families come down from Kolkata to attend the five-day celebration and stay back till Durga Puja."
Be it Gujaratis or Bengalis, everyone irrespective of community, worship the lord with utmost devotion
"Shree Ganeshay Namaha!" is a common chant among all Hindus on every occasion, irrespective of their communities. Lord Ganesha is the lord who is first worshipped by everyone, be it a Maharashtrian, Gujarati, Bengali, etc. And today, we are talking about people who irrespective of their community worship the lord whole heartedly and with utmost devotion. Yes, we are talking about those devotionally inclined people who bring home Lord Ganesha every year, in spite of not belonging to the Maharashtrian community.
Vashi resident, Caroline Mallik says that it is because of her sons Varun and Vikas that they bring home the lord, since they love to celebrate every festival with pomp. Unlike most kids, they are extremely religious and the best part is that they have all the chants and aartis thoroughly learnt. Caroline says, "My family brings home the lord and follows all the rituals in our own special way. We have been bringing home Ganesha since five years now, and we did so while we were in Hyderabad as well. Being married in a Hindu family, I am influenced by the rituals; in fact both my kids are very fascinated with the intricacies about our religion; they sing the aartis, help me prepare bhog which is usually sheera, khichadi etc. And, to be noted, there's no fixed duration of lord's stay at our home, sometimes its 1.5 days, sometimes 3 or 5."
Another Bengali family, Subhash and Pratima Kundu have started bringing Lord Ganesha since last year, just after they shifted base from Kolkata to Navi Mumbai. Caroline, although being a non- Hindu herself loves the customs and rituals attached to the festival. In fact, it would be astonishing to know that Caroline was the one who initiated the celebration of Ganpati festival at their home. "We all know the aartis and stotras so well that all the three days we perform everything as per the tradition. Bappa surely brings in happiness to our home, the moments when we decorate the house and prepare for the festival are very interesting; however, it is very sad to bid adieu to Bappa so early," mentioned Caroline.
Kharghar residents Anurag and Santvana Srivastava have been bringing home the lord since four years now, and this is the fifth year of their celebration. "I was always religiously inclined and wanted to bring home Ganpatiji and worship him. However, my husband was not inclined towards religion in the past, and I didn't want to get the lord home without his consent. It was one day when Anurag came up to me and said that let's bring home Ganpati this year, and I believe that Ganpatiji himself blessed him to initiate this idea. Since, then we have been celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi for 1.5 day at home," narrated Santvana. Her two children 12-year-old Sanskriti and 4-year-old Aditya and her father-in-law are the ones who are involved in the rituals.
The Srivastava family has never involved any priest for the traditional rituals, it is Santvana who does the sthapana and then there's the akhanda diya that the family lights during the sthapana. "I love the custom of haldi kumkum, which is the main programme at our home every year," added Santvana.
Seawoods residents Bhuvana and Ramkrishna Nair have been welcoming the lord since 16-years now. The family started bringing home Ganesha on the request of their only son Arun, since he loved the lord's appearance, says his father Ramkrishna. He adds, "Since the time, we have started bringing the lord home, he has taken care of all our problems forever, like they say happens in movies. In fact, we have a five-day function at home wherein we invite people for lunch every day. Our Ganesha is a little different since his trunk turns up on the right hand side, his complexion is slightly dark and there's a mark of vibhuti on his forehead."
Pratima mentioned, "Ganpati is big celebration for our family since he is the one who has given us everything we have today. It might sound astounding, but both our families come down from Kolkata to attend the five-day celebration and stay back till Durga Puja."
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