Ever since the very first days of our arrival, we kept hearing drums echoing no matter which part of Pune were we at. A few days ago we finally experienced what all the practice and preparation throughout the city was all about: the last day of Ganesh festival stood up to the hype, nay exceeded it!
The rather intense post-monsoon rains didn't spoil the mood for the day-long celebration:
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| Photo credit: Emma |
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| Photo credit: Viktoria |
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| Photo credit: Viktoria |
The festival lasts for 10 days and celebrates the rebirth of Ganesha. Let me save you some Google/Wikipedia time:
"Ganesha Chaturthi is the Hindu festival celebrated
on the birthday (rebirth) of the god Ganesha, the son of Shiva and Parvati. It is believed that Lord Ganesh bestows his presence on
earth for all his devotees during this festival. It is the day when Ganesha was
born. Ganesha is widely worshipped as the god of wisdom, prosperity and good
fortune and traditionally invoked at the beginning of any new venture or at the
start of travel."
The procession through the city featured some gigantic Ganesh sculptures. Families or communities also marched with their own Ganesh sculptures to the river, so they can place it in the water::
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| Photo credit: Viktoria |
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| Photo credit: Emma |
The crowd kept growing on our way to Laxmi Road (where the huge procession took place):
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| Photo credit: Emma |
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| Photo credit: Viktoria |
Even when the second (and later third) dose of waterfall-style rain arrived we just went with the flow (I mean literally), we let our make-up to be washed off by the rain and kept jumping in ankle-high paddles while shouting: "Ganapati Bappa, Moriya!" This was a party of a lifetime, definitely not to be missed once in India!
P.S.: Obviously, we must thank our amazing guides, Santosh and all the boys and girls from the Sociology Dept. who came with us. They looked after us all night long, acting as tourguides, bodyguards and amazing dancers at the same time! We couldn't have enjoyed the festival as much as we did without them, that's for sure! Huge thank you going out for all of you amazing people!
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