Come September, and the streets of Pune are full with Ganapati Idols, decorations, street mandaps and lightings, for 10 days. Ganapati Festival is the most happening festival in every Marathi family.
As a child I remember we used to visit my grand parents house during Ganapati. All my cousins and relatives would visit and for 1 and half days we would eat, pray and enjoy. My grandmother would decorate the living room with a small temple specially made for the Ganapati’s Murti, with silver Samai and silver Pooja equipments.
The main sweet dish on the first day used to be ‘Modak’. As a child I used to love the fried modaks, but now I have started loving the steam cooked ones. They are just amazing. The second day my grandmother, (we all called her Mamma), used to prepare a vegetable called ‘Kandamul’ or ‘Rishi chi Bhaji’. It used to be a mixed vegetable of all the vegetables available in the market in that season…. Like all the leafy veggies, all the veggies with seeds and also whole corns. We have to add curd in it while eating. Along with it there used to be hot ‘puri‘ and ‘Shev-ki-Khir’. Yummy!
I had recently been to Siddhivinayak temple. It is at Prabhadevi in Mumbai. Usually there is a big rush for the ‘darshan’ in the temple. People have to wait for hours. But I was lucky to get no crowd that evening. Being a ‘Dahi Handi’ celebration most of the street shops were closed so might be there was hardly any rush inside the temple. I could go till the main idol and join my hands in gratitude. When I began to go the ‘purohit’ called me and offered me a coconut, a garland and some ‘pedhas’ as Prasad. It was amazing. I felt blessed. I felt like God had approved of what I was doing, thinking and planning…
What is it that brings out the child in each one of us in this festival?
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