India is a country in permanent change. Some change comes a little more slowly then other. Yesterday Mr. Anna Hazare broke his fast, after 12 days of protest against India's government, which refused to pass a new anti corruption bill (read more about that here ). Some things change really fast. You find yourself complaining about the condition of the streets or the slow progressing of the metro construction, and the next day the street is fixed or one part of the metro finished, and you haven't even seen a construction sign or a worker.
As I experienced it already in Ahmedabad for the Kite Festival and Holi, or in Varanasi for Diwali, the cities change with the festivals. Now there is festival season (to me it feels like there is only some 3 months where is NO festival season...) and tomorrow the Ganesha festival starts, it will last for about 3 days and is mainly celebrated in Mumbai and other cities in the north. Still, here it is happening too, together with some other celebrations (for Ganesha's mother, if I got it right...). For those who don't know, Ganesha is one of India's most important and famous gods, the elephant headed son of Shiva and Parvati.
So when I walked my way to the bus station this morning, I found every empty corner filled with either Ganesh idols or banana leaves and -stems. This evening the whole street was filled with carts on which the vendors sell all utensils you need for the special "pooja" (ceremony), like certain flowers and leaves, and even more Ganesha idols. The idols are made from clay and are supposed to be given into the water during the pooja. The banana stems are kept left and right of the door as a symbol of prosperity. Mango leaves will be put together to a garland and hang over the door, unfortunately I forgot the reason for that. Some temples, fences and walls have been covered with new paint, and lights have been placed everywhere.
As I experienced it already in Ahmedabad for the Kite Festival and Holi, or in Varanasi for Diwali, the cities change with the festivals. Now there is festival season (to me it feels like there is only some 3 months where is NO festival season...) and tomorrow the Ganesha festival starts, it will last for about 3 days and is mainly celebrated in Mumbai and other cities in the north. Still, here it is happening too, together with some other celebrations (for Ganesha's mother, if I got it right...). For those who don't know, Ganesha is one of India's most important and famous gods, the elephant headed son of Shiva and Parvati.
So when I walked my way to the bus station this morning, I found every empty corner filled with either Ganesh idols or banana leaves and -stems. This evening the whole street was filled with carts on which the vendors sell all utensils you need for the special "pooja" (ceremony), like certain flowers and leaves, and even more Ganesha idols. The idols are made from clay and are supposed to be given into the water during the pooja. The banana stems are kept left and right of the door as a symbol of prosperity. Mango leaves will be put together to a garland and hang over the door, unfortunately I forgot the reason for that. Some temples, fences and walls have been covered with new paint, and lights have been placed everywhere.
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