NY Guyanese Hindus observed Ganesh Jayanti

Dear Editor,

Guyanese Hindus in the US observed the auspicious festival of Ganesh Jayanti, the appearance of Lord Ganesh, as part of the festival of ten days Chathurthi festival. This celebration was brought by the indentured labourers to the Caribbean some 178 years ago and then transplanted in North America and England by immigrants.

Ganesh murthis are paraded through the streets of Flushing, as they are in Guyana or Trinidad, accompanied by singing and dancing, and then immersed in the ocean or other bodies of water.

Lord Ganesh is the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati and is the first of the Gods or Goddesses to be worshipped in any puja. Ganesh is the God of wisdom or knowledge. Regardless of any puja, Ganesh is propitiated as mandated by Lord Shiva.

Devotees make offerings of ladoo and a tray of sweets to Ganesha. Guyanese temples were packed during evening services in the US. Ganesh Jayanti is a national holiday in India.

Lord Ganesh is one of the favourite Gods in the Hindu religion. Hindus consider Lord Ganesh as the most important deities because he is the remover of obstacles. It is not surprising to find Ganesha murthis at the entrances of homes, businesses, mandirs and in doorways.

Hence the worship of Ganesh daily and particularly on his birth anniversary and/or before Hindus undertake any project as well as the start of a business day.

The Hindu scriptures glorify the Supreme Almighty who has the sole power to remove all obstacles on the path of the spiritual seeker towards the attainment of Godhead. This seems to be a part of the meaning hidden behind the holy worship of Ganesh also called Ganapati Baba.

Lord Ganesh’s birthday is accompanied by ten days of a massive Ganesh street festival and celebrations all over India. The same is observed in Trinidad, Suriname, and some parts of Guyana, and parts (Flushing, Edison, Dallas, Houston, Orlando) of the US.

I witnessed the festival a few times during visits to India where there are huge street processions, and on the final day, beautifully decorated clay murthis are immersed in the rivers or ocean.

It is a sight to behold and experience – a spiritual hair-raising experience.

The tradition is copied in Trinidad and Guyana and Suriname as well.

In NY, Guyanese and Trini devotees made offerings at the Atlantic Ocean. For Ganesh Jayanthi, mandirs are beautifully decorated and streets swept clean as processions with multi-coloured electronic lights and tassa music make their way to the waterfront, and people dance in celebration. New Yorkers went to the Rockaways.

In Hinduism, as is the case in other religions, there is only one God or Goddess but He/She takes the names of different deities (such as Lord Krishna, Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva, Goddess Lakshmi, etc) when he (she) makes his (her) appearance on earth. He could appear as a God or as a Goddess (Durga, Latchmie, Parvatie, etc) because Hinduism does not discriminate between the genders.

For each God, there is a corresponding Goddess and each came into the world to perform specific tasks showing people how to live their life. There is a lot of symbolism in the worship of Gods and Goddesses.

Lord Ganesh made his appearance to symbolically offer protection to people. He demonstrated great courage and honesty in standing up against powerful forces and was richly rewarded for his duty. And so people pray to Lord Ganesh to remove obstacles in their path.

With Lord Ganesha being known as the remover of obstacles, Hindus turned out in massive numbers at the temples listening to the pandits’ katha, make offerings, sing bhajan, and partake in aartee and bhojan.

Yours truly,

Vishnu Bisram