Ganpati bappa morya!

Ganesh Chaturthi (IAST: Gaṇeśa Chaturṭhī, sanskrit: गणेश चतुर्थी) (Ganesh Festival) is a day on which Lord Ganesha, the son of Shiva and Parvati, is believed to bestow his presence on earth for all his devotees. It is the birthday of Lord Ganesha. The festival is observed in the Hindu calendar month of Bhaadrapada, starting on the shukla chaturthi (fourth day of the waxing moon period). Typically the day falls sometime between August 20 and September 15. The festival lasts for 10 days, ending on Ananta Chaturdashi.

At the end of the ten days of celebration, the idol of Lord Ganesha is immersed into water bodies - rivers, lakes etc. This picture was clicked on the bank of the Mulla Mutha. A group of people who had finished their puja handed over the idol to be immersed in the water. The boy walked in slowly, carefully holding the idol whilst trying not to lose his balance. I love the way the water rippled around him. As if he was surrounded by some form of energy. Another interesting effect this photo has is that the boy's body is silhouetted whereas the idol remains brightly lit.

This photo was clicked from a slightly different angle, just before the idol was immersed. The boy submerged himself completely once and came back up with the idol. The second time he submerged himself the idol was gone. Traditionally, the Ganesh idol was sculpted out of earth taken from nearby one’s home. After worshipping the divinity in this earth idol, it was returned back to the Earth by immersing it in a nearby water body. This cycle represented the cycle of creation and dissolution in Nature.

This is a picture of my friends dad who was there for the immersion as well. I clicked this picture in a hurry just before he started the puja and the final immersion of the idol. Good amount of sunlight bouncing off the idol highlights its intricate design. Most of these are made by hand.

On the other side of the bank was this kid who was throwing stones into the river, unperturbed by the events that were happening nearby. There was this kid and then there was this other kid below - He was really engrossed by what was going on. The photo below shows him watch the whole immersion process carefully. Concentration at maximum along with curiosity. The expression on his face speaks volumes.


Image 1 - ISO800 | 55mm | f/5.6 | 1/1500sec
Image 2 - ISO800 | 55mm | f/5.6 | 1/1000sec
Image 3 - ISO800 | 28mm | f/5.6 | 1/3000sec
Image 4 - ISO400 | 55mm | f/22 | 1/125sec
Image 5 - ISO800 | 55mm | f/5.6 | 1/350sec