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Temples of Kashi - The Tilbhandeshwar Temple

The city of Kashi is filled with temples, big and small, old and new. There are temples at every corner, and you never know where you will stumble upon a small shrine. There are idols beneath what remains of trees (there are hardly any trees any more within the core area of the city), there are saffron covered forms resembling deities which seem attached to walls, an especially incongruous sight when the idol itself appears to be old, while the wall is evidently new…. And there are surprisingly large temples rising from what appear to be a bunch of houses. The city is sometimes colloquially said to be as old as time, and some of the shrines and temples are said to date back to times unknown, at least the deity itself, if not the structure. Not much remains of the ancient structures anyway. The city has seen more than its fair share of good and bad times. It has seen the heights of grandeur, and the lows brought about by destruction. The city that exists today has grown so haphaza...
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Ganeshas...... and more.....

Here’s another installment of the Ganeshotsav celebrations in Bombay. Yes, there has been quite a long gap, and sheer laziness has been the cause… just didn’t feel like going out, you see…

However, yesterday, I felt a sudden bout of energy and decided to go along with my sister to Crawford market in search for a few things for Navaratri… thinking ahead, you see… and then we saw these beautiful Ganeshas there, so I found something to write about today….

The first Ganesha was right at the entrance to the crowded lanes known for their wholesale shops selling every kind of goods under the sun, located (of all places) in the parking lot! Take a look….







The Ganesha looks great, doesn’t he, but what’s more impressive is that the idol is 15 feet tall! Surely the tallest Ganesha I have seen this year….. (of course, there are others even taller, but I haven’t seen them yet!!!)


Just outside was this small, but beautiful idol…..



As we wound our way among the crowded lanes, we saw more Ganpati pandals…… all of them blaring out songs…….the crowd halting to pay their respects and causing even more traffic jams……..

This one is the main Ganesh at a pandal….



And these are part of the decoration…..

 


These represent the story of Ganesha destroying the demon Analasura by swallowing him. The demon’s heat proved to be too much for him, and all attempts to cool him proved futile until the rishis showered Dhurva grass on him. This story is cited as the reason for Dhurva grass being considered the favourite offering for lord Ganesh.


Oh, this post isn’t only about Ganeshotsav……. Our work took us towards my favourite area of Bombay – a place which I visited often during my college days, a place which still beckons to me after all these years – Nariman Point….. let me share some pics with you…..





And here’s my sister… incidentally, this is the first time we came here together….. And she posed for a few snaps…..just like all the tourists……



Finally, we turned our back and wove our way back in the growing traffic back home…..

On the way.........

A glimpse of VT station (I just can’t get used to calling it CST!!!!) ………



We passed via Lalbaug where the people were queuing up all over the place, past all the other beautiful mandals on the road, but had no time to stop, nor the inclination to stand in one of those long queues……….


And another Ganesha at Matunga……





Meanwhile, the flower decoration had changed for the Flower Market Ganesha……




We were back home just in time for Samhith's return from school.

And today is Onam……all around me, there are beautiful kolams (rangolis) made of flowers. Here is my neighbour’s.




Wishing everyone a very happy Onam!!!!

And hoping to be back soon with the last part of the Ganeshotsav……. Bidding goodbye to the lord.



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Location: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Comments

  1. sriSeptember 2, 2009 at 1:32 PM

    Thanks for all the lovely pics, it gave me an idea how it would be like to be in ur part of the world to celebrate this function.

    You started preparing for navraatri already hehe thats good, u can get the small train set - 2 or three because u get loads of train tracks using wich u can make tracks to go around in the park

    All the best :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. MridulaSeptember 2, 2009 at 5:13 PM

    I think VT station is part of the UNESCO World Heritage list too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. IndraniSeptember 2, 2009 at 11:02 PM

    Happy Onam!
    Lovely shots!

    ReplyDelete
  4. SujataSeptember 3, 2009 at 10:25 AM

    Very nice post Anu. it seems you had quite a trip...

    ReplyDelete

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