ganpati festival in colony part III

The last day of the festival was eagerly awaited. Morning poojas as usual and there was a bit of nostalgia for the good days gone by and the friendships fostered. We went back home just to take a break and be back for the community lunch. Yes, all residents were requested not to make lunch in their homes but to join in 'langar'. I believed that there would be catering service. But just as we were coming out of the morning pooja with heavy prasad, we saw huge vessels on the stoves near the library/play area. I also saw some ladies cutting vegetables. Some of the houses had engaged cooks on a regular basis and they were 'leased out' to the colony function on that day! It came as a good surprise to me, so I lent a hand in cutting cucumber for the salad.

Lunch was a great experience. No it was not the menu which was quite homely and tasty. It was the service! We sat on the floor and were served by fellow calyxians with lots of love and affection. In true Indian tradition, we were asked and served repeatedly all the items on the menu. After a very satisfying experience we retired for a while only to be back for the prize giving ceremony and the visarjan pooja by priest thereafter.

Then the volunteers carried the main deity and other calyxians carried the smaller 'personal ganpathi idols which had been added on to the main deity during the week.A procession around the colony accompanied by crackers and loud chanting of 'ganpati pappa moriya' and then the journey to the lake began. While the main deity was carried in a van, many of us followed in our own vehicles and it made a big procession in the winding roads to the Begur lake. We saw other ganpati idols getting ready for the 'visarjan' on the way.Thankfully there was not much crowd and we were able to go near the waters and amid chantings were able to perform the immersion. Couple of boys were around to take the ganpati right inside the lake and ensure he gets a proper immersion. There was a small girl with her parents who did not want to let go of 'ganesha', and kept saying 'no go ganesha, no go'. Her mother pacified her saying he is not going anywhere, he will come next year.

We got back to the colony and felt like coming home soon after performing a family wedding!

ganpati festival in colony part II

Well, initial preparations were over, and the Ganpati idol arrived the next day. It was actually sponsored by one of the residents. A priest was invited to perform the installation and puja thereafter.

Everyday for the next 9 days pujas and aarthi was performed by the ladies predominently.11 am and 6 pm were the puja timings and strictly adheared to. There were enough volunteers for preparing 'prasad'. We had a taste of 'kesari' the most 'unifying' dish in India! Evening bhajan times had better turn out than the morning, obviously. Jai jagadeesahare was the common theme song.We had very good singers from Kolkatta, Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, TamilNadu, Andhra,Punjab and almost every other state. Of course lots of jostling for 'state representations' had to happen! The religious fervour of the young ladies here is what appealed to me most. They took great pains to prepare for the puja deligently twice a day for all the days. A very devout elderly couple performed the lead role on every occasion. God bless them. The ' prasad time' at the end of the pooja was the great networking time. I for one was slowly able to connect their names, with the flat nos. Oh 'flat number"' is the equivalent of a 'employee id' here in the colony.Without that you are a nobody!. I took a note book and kept it near the prasad counter and requested the ladies to mark their flat nos, against their names.Some of them were very suspicious, I had to assuage them that it is meant for jogging my memory and will not be 'misused".Now I can connect faces with names and flat nos to about 15 ladies!

On saturday grand sports competitions were planned. Right from 10 am there was a steady stream of players making a beeline to the sports hall. TT had the maximum participation from the men and hence had to continue on Sunday also. Carrom and chess also had good participation from ladies and children. Invariably there were rescheduling and cancelling of nominations, as the residents came out with myriad excuses and entreaties for change in time and date. I heard from many a participant that they are taking up the sport which used to be their passion, after a very long gap. One could see the pleasure and anticipation in every one of them.

There was a dance programme by the small girls and they made a pretty picture with twirling umbrellas and glittering costumes and smiling faces.

While we were waiting for the girls to come on stage, there was a "commercial break" of lemon and spoon race. It was really hilarious and a tremendous 'ice breaker". There were several participants who were so keen on running and hitting the goal post, that they never saw their lemon falling off the instant they took their first surge forward. The mothers were very keen that their wards make a good show of themselves, so were giving them all precautions and procedures.The ladies event was also good fun, with most of them hitting the final line with their spoons and lemon intact. "Yes, women are quite balanced!"

This brought the curtain down as far as the activities were concerned and all eyes were on the 'visarjan'

ganpati festival in colony

The colony has a vibrant community life. I discovered it recently during the just concluded ganpati festivals. The entire colony came together and celebrated the event in a most spectacular way. I am a new entrant here and hence was watching the preparations with keen interest.

Of course the first step was a circular being sent out with appeal for donations. The first entry was 500 rupees and hence it set the standards for the residents. The next part was forming an organising committee for which volunteers were invited through the 'google groups forum'.Unfortunately this left out the 'parents; parents in laws of the colony to a large extent! It was not intended I am sure. But what else do you expect from the residents who are predominently IT professionals. By posting on the google groups, they sincerely believed that they have kept it open to everybody. A few days later we were informed of the constitution of the committee. Soon enough, programme details followed.

This is what made me sit up and take notice. The programme was literally spread over 11 days, no jokes, with two weekends included.

The party hall was the venue for the puja and other activities. Initial two days were spent in collecting decoration materials and having a small group of enthusiastic ladies sit down and 'do up' the room.

The stage was all set for installation of the deity the next day.

Navarathiri

I spent quite a few days during dussera in Bangalore. I enjoyed every minute of it. It was also a highly social event. I was amazed once more at the thoughtfulness of weaving such varied festivals into our lives.
Our apartment complex has evolved a wonderful system for all the nine days of dussera. The housemates take turns in inviting others to their house for haldi kumkum. It is usually preceeded by lalitha sahasranam recitation. So more than 40 odd women and children land up in each house by 6 pm. They are all dressed in their fineries and the entire place looks like a tapestry of latest fashion and design. The deity is usually very well decorated.The artistic tastes of the lady is fully brought out. I have seen very many decorative items in all these pujas. I invariably stay back and ask the lady, where to get these items. The recitation starts. Most of them are veterans and can reel of all the 1000 names without batting an eyelid. It was a first occasion so I was mostly groping. There is something about chanting, especially when you have a very enthusiastic and religious group. I closed my eyes on the first day and just allowed the resonance of the sound to flow over me. It was really very unique and soul satisfying.
Chanting over and a few of the ladies break out into some bhajans/songs. Then there is 'aarti' and distribution of prasad. We had almost a full meal in some houses.Prasad items were neatly packed in disposable cups/trays.We had porul vilangai urundai as prasad in my neighbour's house! I remembered my athai who used to visit us used to bring this sweet.I still remember the unique taste and texture!
Then the haldi kumkum. I had enough cocoanuts to feed an entire village!
Then the ladies stayed back for a chat and exchange of news.The kiddos had a field day playing and fooling around.
Then we trooped to another flat to see 'kolu'. I saw new sets of toys and new themes. Well, old themes but I am seeing them as made into dolls for the first time. Narasimhar coming out of the pillar; wedding set, including an entire 'pandhi' of people having their meals; partha sarathy perumal veedi purappadu; tirupati brahmotsavam including the seven hills and the winding mountain path; lanka and asoka vanam and sita and hanuman and karthigai pengal. I saw chettiar and chettichi sitting pretty on plastic chairs.I asked the lady of the house and she told me, they cannot sit on the floor as they have arthritis!
I have got to know quite a few families during this season and quite intimately at that. That is the purpose of these festivals, I guess. One elderly lady, about 80 years old sang a beautiful carnatic song and bowled me over how she was able to hold her breadth.
Navarathiri festival is my favourite. It is spread over nine full days and helps us to phase out our activities. It is suffused with religious feelings.For the pious, it is kalasam and pooja in the mornings.Elaborate naivedhyam preparations for the culinary experts! For the artistically inclined it provides endless scope for experimenting and enjoying keeping the kolu dolls . For the musically inclined, it is a time to bring forth all of ones talents and also listen to others who are as well endowed. For those interested in dressing well, again this festival offers immense scope.You can dress up and also elaborately dress up your dolls on display!
Again for busy people who are not able to keep up with friends/relatives/neighbours, this gives a capsule course to get in touch and that too in such an enjoyable way!

onam

There is an ayyappan temple in the neighbourhood. We had never known about it for all these years.It is unostentatious and does not blare loud devotional songs. It is tucked away in a small lane and does not have flashy gopurams to broadcast its presence. It has a small tile roofed temple as though it is a family deity installed within your own house.It is full of feel good factor about it. There are just two sannidhis, one of ayyappan, the main deity and another of pillayar. It has lots of trees of flowering plants inside the compound.It has an old world charm about the place.There is a single 'pookadai' just outside the gate.I go past this temple on my occasional walks in the colony and the liberal and heady smell of 'malli' and 'jaadi' are a welcome assault on your senses.It opens well past 6 pm and has a devotional songs played in a very low volume which one can hear only inside the temple.
Of late I am seeing a group of elderly ladies assemble there in the evening and recite bhajans, slokas and devotional songs. To ward off the friendly mosquitoes which hover around them, they carry all sorts of contraptions and they make a regular 'whoosh' sound inbetween beats!Some of them cannot sit on the floor, so come with folding chairs but their regularity surprises me.
Last week during onam, I felt like visiting this temple. P and me decided to go there after 8 pm. The place was teeming with malayalis of all hues and sizes and ages in traditional attire with sandal paste on their foreheads and all of them having such well washed and clean look about them.The temple was full of flowers and thorans and wore a very festive look. Very beautiful and artistic and colouful rangolis, the 'pookalam' was adorning the floor space. I am really fond of these flower rangolis and stood gazing at them trying to memorize the design and floral arrangement.There was nadaswaram innisai in the background. But unfortunately they were playing only tamil devotional songs which did not merge with the mood. But they cannot import them from kerala ostensibly!
We just entered the temple and witnessed the 'mahaarati '. There is something about the string of lamps that ayyappan temples display.They are so beautiful and immediately take you on a divine feel. The idol is very small and huge garlands were adorning the deity and were laid like a huge mat in front of the idol. We all took the sandalwood paste prasad and were surprised that a massive dinner plate was handed out for every devotee. Sambhar rice, curd rice, kesari and pattani sundal were handed out in liberal quantities. Soon a big queue formed and as we wer coming out of the temple we could see the neighbourhood suddenly erupting into a sea of humanity heading straight to the temple. I was reminded of the screen play in some tamil movies, where they will show all lanes are full of people heading towards purposefully towards one particular spot, where there is action.I saw my keerai kaari hurrying with her children as also my neighbour's servant maid with her family.There is something very satisfying about annadanams.We brought our prasadams home and I was happy to share it with the watchman in the next door apartment block.He obviously is not tuned in to the neighbourhood happenings!

It is festival time here

Last two days have been fun with tamizh varusha pirappu and sri rama navami juxtaposed and also an extended weekend. The neighbourhood temples have gone berserk as it were with hectic preparations and wonderful celebrations. This is the first time I am able to enjoy their religious fervour fully. There was an entire fortnight of build up for sri rama navami utsavam. Visaka hari was slated for the start of the utsavam on 2nd april and for another ten days sri hari was scheduled to give discourses in the evening. I could never sit through any of these harikathas but I saw the crowd dispersing after the harikatha or starting to assemble before the event. The notice board in the temple used to be quite full with various engagements for the month.
We went there on tamizh varusha pirappu day in the evening.The smell of homam smoke was still thick in the air. Ramar sannidhi was getting decorated and outside the sannidhi preparations were on to tie the vishu kani the next day. General festive atmosphere was in the temple. A group of women devotees were chanting bhajans. All the deities were sporting gold kavachams and resplendently attired. I felt very good to be there at the start of the new year.
Today morning I made a beeline again for sri rama navami. This time the homam was in full swing and the priest was explaining the meaning of the japams. Vishu kani was strung on the roof and i could spot lots of fruits and vegetables which i am told will be distributed to the poor people next day.We were given a one rupee coin as prasad as a mark of 'vishu'. We also had prasad of neer mor, paanagam and kosumri. Ramar sannidhi was decorated wonderfully and Ramar was overloaded with tulasi maalias and jasmine garlands but his silver bow was shining amidst all the flowers.
Puja at home reminded me strongly of our childhood in Tambaram and appa's fervour for rama navami celebrations. Appas favourite songs from ramakrishna mutt ,Suddha brahma paratpara ram, Kanakambara and Sri rama chandra were remembered and sung with great gusto.
Later in the day, Worldspace radio had an entire collection of Aruna chala kavirayar's Rama natakam and it was sheer bliss.
I was walking past ayyappan temple nearby and was stuck by the truck loads of flowers spread there on the floor. Mounds of arali, jasmine, tulasi, crysanthamum and roses were being gathered and peeled by devotees sitting in large groups. I am sure the pookolam that would be made there would be wonderful and a true 'eye candy'.
Festival time, be in Chennai. But then take time out to do a relaxed round up. If you are in a rush, then what is the fun of festivals?

saarang contd

Gajendra circle transformed in a riot of green and electric blue, was magical and other wordly. This pic could be retrieved from my mobile only yesterday.Yes, I am slowly getting tech savvy; forget the 4 different trips to vinod cell centre, nokia showroom in besant nagar and fiddling with non dextrous fingers to pull out the memory card and put it back again into the tiny slot only kids can handle.