Happy Ganesh Chathurthi!
For those who do not know, Ganesh Chathurthi is a Hindu holiday celebrating Ganesh, the God of new beginnings. On the first day of Ganesh Chaturthi, Hindus perform the "sthapana", Sitting ceremony, of a clay statue of Ganesh Ji in their homes. Then for the following five days, we perform the "aarti", offerings ceremony. The purpose of this holiday is to invite Ganesh Ji into your homes and bless the new beginings in your life - be it a marriage, new job, new business venture, or a birth in the family. The newly married couples perform the ceremony together in their home the year they get married. Then they continue to celebrate Ganesh Charturthi together every year.
This year we performed the "sthapana" in our home in San Jose. We also created rangolis on our patio. Rangoli is a design made from different colored powders dropped on the ground to create patterns. It is sort of like making a chalk drawing on the sidewalk but instead of chalk crayons you use free flowing powders. Check out our photos. A side note for those who are unaware--the symbols we used are not swastikas, but rather a swastik. The swastik is used as a symbol of purity in Hinduism and was around long before it was defiled during World War II by the Nazi party, who used its mirror image to represent less-than-pure intentions. The swastik is clockwise, the swastika, counter-clockwise. In addition, the Hindu swastik also has dots.
