Ganapati Pooja: Hindu Festival

By Kristine Kostuck
Contributing Writer

On Sunday, September 12, Hindus from all over the region will gather in prayer and celebration to show gratitude to the Elephant-headed God Ganesha.

The Ganapati Pooja ceremony is exciting for everyone practicing Hinduism, as well as those open to learning about the traditions of Asian culture.

Ganesha is the elephant-headed son of Siva, the god of transformation, creation and destruction. He is addressed by 108 names in the Sanskrit scriptures and Hindu hymns.

Ganesha is generally recognized as the Lord of Beginnings and remover of obstacles. Those devoted to him will receive wisdom, fortune and prosperity. The celebration of the “Ganapati Pooja,” the Hindu festival of the Fargo-Moorhead area and all other areas, is his birthday.

Traditionally the festival is recognized during ten days in September, starting on the fourth day of the waxing moon period on the Hindu calendar. This is usually between August 20 and September 15.

Many Hindus buy or make clay Ganeshas months before the ceremony. Once the ten-day period begins, they worship Ganesha in their homes. Prayer is offered in a temple during this period, giving Ganapati’s energy its highest intensity.

On the last day, the 14th day of the waxing moon period, the celebration moves to the streets in music and dance, before placing the clay Ganeshas in a river or sea. He is dissolved, along with humanity’s misfortunes and the effects of deity Yama, the lord of death and destruction.

The festival is celebrated with bright decorations and Indian cuisine. Ganapati’s figure can be placed on a chariot or throne surrounded by lights, flowers and incense. Rice grains are spread over Ganapati’s seat. Chants are recited, and the Pooja’s energy is said to saturate the rice and be transmitted to the rice stored in the homes of the people chanting, to share his blessing with the household.

Many times families and friends worship together during these ten days. This is how the festival came to Fargo.

Jiterndra Vaidya and his wife Tanmayi live in Fargo. In 2000 they invited four Indian families living in the area to their home for food and worship. On the last day of the “Ganapati Pooja” the families dissolved their clay Ganapati into the Red River.

Since F-M’s population of people from India and Nepal was growing, Vaidya wanted to create a celebration that could, “Eventually grow to an iconic festival of the local Indian community.”

Vaidya and the festival’s committee think they need an outlet to share their culture with other Hindus in the area. “We can’t forget our traditions just because we moved to another country,” he said. Others with families want them to know their heritage.

“It is a way to show our children this is our culture, this is what we believe and this is our faith. We have a strong faith that says you shouldn’t do this and you shouldn’t do that, but we want to give them a reason for it,” said Shenoy Namritha, a coordinator for the festival.

Vaidya and the festival committee’s vision is to “Make a unique event at an ultimate level similar to their homeland.” The festival has core religious elements, hosts culture and brings the community together. Because of this, and word of mouth, the festival has grown from 10 people in Vaidya’s home to hundreds.

This year the committee is expecting about 300 people to participate in the festival.

At this time the event is invitation only.

“We couldn’t open it to the public because we couldn’t have it any bigger. The Avalon has limited space and we are still trying to see how the community will react to our culture,” said Vaidya.

Vaidya noted that he is excited to have the city’s mayor return to the celebration after attending last year’s festival. This is a step for the Hindu community to share their culture and combat the negativity sometimes expressed towards different heritages in our country. It gives the local Indian community a place to gather for worship, and makes them feel at home by giving them an opportunity to share something that is important to them spiritually.

There are over a thousand people from India, Nepal and other parts of South Asia in Fargo-Moorhead. Many are students deciding if their occupations would best be carried out here or at home. The Ganapati Pooja reminds them where they came from, what they believe and that they are not alone.

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