What Next?

Of all the God’s in the Hindu Pantheon, the most popular would of course be Ganesha. He is the God who removes all obstacles and helps one to attain success. He has 108 names and a few among them are Ganapati, Vinayaka, Vigneshwara, Lambodara and Ekadanta. Every Hindu has his or her own reason for loving this God, the son of Shiva and Parvathi with an elephantine head and a human torso. He is lovable in his appearance as his cherubic form makes him endearing.

Ganesha was always an integral part of our faith and our growing up years saw us celebrating Vinayaka Chathurthi and also performing a Ganapathi Homam annually. This annual Homam it was believed would take care of all the inmates and see that no obstacles come in their way of attaining their goals. Apart from this there was the occasional coconut breaking in front of a Ganesha idol before the start of anything auspicious. Till the 80’s, Vinayaka Chathurthi, or the birthday of Lord Ganesha, was a very low key affair in the South with every household doing their puja to a soft clay idol of the God and then throwing the idol into the well of their house. If there was no well in the house it was then thrown into the community well or a pond. Since these idols were made of clay there was no question of pollution as the clay just went back to the soil from where it was procured. Somewhere in the course of the years, the status of Ganesha seems to have changed. He seems to have become even more popular and his prominence has become very pronounced. Now days Vinayaka Chathurthi has grown totally big what with huge paper mache idols kept in “pandals” adorning every nook and corner of the city. These idols are taken in huge processions for immersion in the sea and these processions have become a cause of concern for the keepers of the law apart from causing traffic snarls. The pollution caused to the sea and its creatures is another fallout of this event. Are these processions and celebrations meters by which we can measure the popularity of the God? If that is so, it goes without any doubt that Ganesha stands head and shoulder above all the other Gods put together. I would like to believe it is thus but somehow another aspect of the people’s faith makes me think otherwise.

The early pictures or idols of Ganesha were that of the God in a seated position looking in front with his pot belly in full view and his little mouse right at his feet. His four hands were for all to see, each carrying what they were meant to hold. His head was straight with both his ears as extended half fans. His trunk was either curved to the left or the right. Both the curves had some significance however both were accepted. As children we were told that a picture or idol of Ganesha should always be in the sitting position. A standing Ganesha was unacceptable as it meant that the God was angry. This is the way it has been for centuries and was the accepted way. Somehow in the 80’s things began to change and Ganesha too was not spared. The market began to get flooded with Ganesha’s in various forms, he began to stand, lie down, dance, play cricket, play all kinds of musical instruments, sit in front of a computer screen with a mouse (his vahanam) in his hand and so on and so forth. To me these various forms never appealed and somehow I felt they were not in good taste. I don’t have a single one of these Ganeshas. I don’t fall into the category of a collector of Ganesha idols a hobby that seems to be in vogue now. I am told there are those with more than 500 Ganeshas in their kitty. I wonder how this modernization came about. Is it the result of globalization that gave the designers and artisans to play around with the Gods? As if to add insult to injury some of the Ganeshas are even made in -you have guessed it right – yes, China!!

With much sadness and frustration, people like me had to take in all the changes to the stately form of a very stately God, only to be perturbed further by the latest style of picturisation. It has in the last 15-20 years become the norm to have a Ganesha picture in all the invitations especially the wedding invitations. Since weddings are a very auspicious occasion, the printers must have decided to add a picture of the remover of all obstacles into the wedding card. It is very rare to see a card without a Ganesha peeping from some corner. I use the word peeping, because unlike when the trend started, the drawings have undergone so much of change that it has at times been brought down to two strokes and a dot. One stroke indicates the trunk the other an ear and the dot one eye. The artists have really belittled the status of a regal God. Do we really need these kinds of images on an invitation? Are the artists trying to show their innovative styles? Is this the right way to portray our Gods?

I do not consider these signs as being healthy. I am a traditionalist when it comes to our Gods and Goddesses. If one is a believer, I think he or she should follow certain norms. It is fine for the non believer to consider all kinds of innovations. When the fanatics among the Hindus can create a hue and cry at drawings of Hindu Gods by renowned artists, I think it is time that they put an end to these lowly representations as well. As for Ganesha himself, I am sure he must be wondering as to what his next avatar would be. How he would be wishing that he wasn’t so popular and his only prayer now to his worshippers would be to leave him alone so that he could be his normal self.