Ganesha Chathurthi

It is that time of the year when Ganesha Chathurthi is celebrated in full fervor in Bangalore. This time the Gowri festival (previous day of Ganesha festival) was pretty much washed out due to the rains. I am not sure if I have experienced such rains in Bangalore before. Resembled India's west coast!! A constant downpour with dark skies for the entire day.

The fun part of the week was to take the kids around to see the sights of the colorful 'Ganesha's in the temporarily setup stores, and all the flowers that were available in plenty for the festival.

The way we celebrate is to get the clay from a potter and make a small Ganesha at home; it is a fun family activity that brings a lot of joy to the kids.

My husband making the Ganesh idol

Along with the flowers, Ganesha is also worshiped with a lot of leaves. I went around with my daughter picking the select leaves. She was very happy to be doing all this, the only thing that ups my interest level in the whole affair. And when we did the pooja to the little Ganesha idol with flowers, leaves, traditional sweets and savories, ringing of the bell, the kids wearing their traditional colorful clothes etc, it was a day filled with happiness and joy. My kids are young and are thrilled to bits seeing such activities around them; the big plus for me to be doing any of this.

The atmosphere was festive in the neighborhood with the ladies hurrying around in their silk sarees, and the kids going around in groups to see the many 'Ganesha's. This is my first time celebrating the festival with hub and kids in India. And well, it was fun.

Happy Chathurthi from our home to yours!

PS: The bummer of course is that I am sick now and so is my son. It is the rains/weather change and the viral fever doing its rounds.

Happy Sankranthi/Pongal

It is the Sankranthi / Pongal season. Sugarcanes are everywhere! We enjoyed taking the kids out yesterday to buy sugarcanes, fruits, and flowers for today's pooja. The roads were filled with festive joy, with people buying all the pooja items and enjoying the sugarcanes. I loved buying strings of jasmine, tuberoses, chrysanthemum, roses, oleanders etc for the pooja room.

Sugarcanes and Flowers

It was fun to actually decorate the pooja room with sugarcanes. I was never really into festivals, but since the arrival of our first child I have changed a lot in this regard. Now, I actually look forward to celebrating the different festivals with the kids. And when we are amongst people who are also celebrating the same festivals, it is really fun!

Happy Sankranthi/Pongal ..... from our home to yours!