Monday, September 17, 2007

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi



Ganesh Chaturthi-(Ganesh Festival) is a day on which Lord Ganesha, the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, is believed to bestow his presence on earth for all his devotees. It is also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi or Vinayaka Chavithi in Sanskrit, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu. Ganesha, the elephant-headed God, is widely worshiped as the supreme god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune.




During the Ganesha festival, Indian household worships a statue of Shri Ganesha. The worship lasts an odd number of days from 1 to 11 days, sometimes 13.

This festival starting with the installation of beautifully engraved (sculptured) Ganesh idols in colorfully decorated homes and mantapas (small stage). The idols are worshiped with families and friends.



The main sweet dish during the festival is the modak (modagam or modakam in South India). A modak is a dumpling made from rice flour/wheat flour with a stuffing of fresh or dry-grated coconut, jaggery and some other condiments. It is either steam-cooked or fried. Another popular sweet dish is the Karanji (karjjikai in Telugu & Kannada) which is similar to the modak in composition and taste but has the shape of the 4th day moon.
(Source Wiki)

This is how we celebrated. Usually a Ganesh idol made of clay is bought home and is worshiped for 10 days. Being here in US, I made a Ganesha at home out of Turmeric. It gave us immense pleasure to worship an Idol made with my own hands.




After Pooja and Nievedyam



We worship him with different kind of leaves, flowers, fruits and Grass.
I had made Modaks (Kozukattai) and Channa (sundal/ sanegalu) for neivedyam.


Being a first timer to make modaks, I was not very perfect at it. So no recipes please:(


So how did you all like my little handmade Ganesha??

51 comments:

bee said...

wow, ganesha is beautiful. festival greetings to you and your family, dear sharmi.

Jyothi said...

Hi Sharmi! handmade turmeric ganesha looks devine. You are very talented. Great idea too. Modaks looks great. Even I prepared first time but didnt get good shape. You can see them at my blog. Thanks for sharing lovely and beautiful photos of lord ganesha.

Padma said...

Your Ganapati looks so cute, Sharmi, Happy Ganesh Chaturthi, dear!

Sumitha said...

Sharmi the handmade idol is so good.What a great idea!Loved the pics of Ganesha especially the first one.

Shivapriya said...

Hand made Ganesh looks really beautiful and cute. MY mom use to make ganesh out of clay.
BTW Paneer pizza looks delicious.

Mansi said...

Happy ganesh to you too Sharmi!

I absolutely love the Ganesh wit th Tanpura!! man, I'd liek to buy one for myself...and the handmade ido is very very creative and beautifully-made!!

Rajitha said...

sharmi..that ganesha is adorable and environment friendly too!! if u are planning on immersion...

musical said...

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to you too, Sharmi! Your collection of Ganesha idols is beautiful, especially the turmeric Ganehsa!

Richa said...

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to you too!
It was very nice to get darshan of all Ganpati murti's!

Siri said...

Hey sharmi,

All the photos are so lovely and colorful.. nice post..:D

Chef Jeena said...

Sharmi I knew you were a great cook but I didn't realise you were an artist too. :) Lovely post.

Siri said...

and special mention about the handmade ganesha.. its so creative.. :D

Latha said...

Hope u had a very happy ganesh chathurthi Sharmi! veyr cute lookign ganesha's and th eone u made is really very cute!

Laavanya said...

Nice photos of your Puja Sharmi and the ganesh idol you made is very good! How creative of you. Your modaks look good, esp. for a first attempt.

Mishmash ! said...

You have magic in your fingers...that handmade ganesha looks so beautiful....teach us...pls...with step by step pics :P

Belated greetings to you and your family.

Shn

Sharmi said...

that is very simple Shn, will surely teach you.

Tee said...

wow! you made your own ganesh murti!! its beautiful. We make a similar ganesh murti when there is wediing in the house.
beautiful post !

Ramya said...

ur ganesha is looking beautiful no handsome.and wishing u happy vinayaka chaturthi.

Nanditha Prabhu said...

your hand made ganesha looks so good!
i also liked the ones sitting with instruments!happy festival wishes!

Jyothi said...

Hi Sharmi! yes, we prepared that palavelli with bbq sticks. :)) We tied that palavelli to wall only with help of push pins(small). Thats it. Thanks for dropping at my blog and also for your lovely words. Thanks again.

Roopa said...

wow Sharmi the ganesh idols looks gorgeous! loved the handmade turmeric ganesha too!

SMN said...

Hey lovely turmeric ganesha.. im a big devotee.. very nice decoration.. hope u had a very nice day

sra said...

How beautiful, Sharmi! We just make a conical 'mudda' out of turmeric and put it on a betel leaf - the idol is bought - I think many homes do that. Your other Ganeshas are cuties too!

Apple said...

Your Ganesha looks beautiful...Good collection too

Bharathy said...

Handmade Ganesha is toooo cute!!
Lovely modaks!!
Hope you had a wonderful day of festivity!

Viji said...

Lovely Sharmi. It looks divine. And the neivedyams are eye catching. Check out my blog, when you have time :) Viji

FH said...

Sharmi, you made Ganesha yourself!That is so nice girl.So many poses of Ganesha. Good to see!:))

Lissie said...

happy festival wishes, sharmi! you have a very good blog.
thanks for visiting my site! i have added you to my adorable foodies list.

Latha Narasimhan said...

You have a lovely collection of Ganesha! Turmeric ganesha is great, Sharmi!

Cynthia said...

Warm Ganesh Chaturthi greetings to you and the family, dearest.

Sig said...

Happy Ganesh chaturthi to you Sharmi! Girl, you are so creative, you made that Ganesha yourself! Wow!

Manjula said...

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi. Handamade idol looks really good, very divine.

Bong Mom said...

All your ganesha idols are very nice. The one you made is very cute too.
Happy Ganesha Chaturthi

Seema Bhat said...

Happy Ganesha Chaturthi to you and your family as well Sharmi. Your handmade baby ganesha looks wonderful. All the pictures are beautifully captured.

Rajesh &Shankari said...

awesom Sharmi. This is the 1st year we did not make it at home. We buy clay and make it..U have done a gr8 job!

TBC said...

Your Ganesha was hand-made? It is simply beautiful! Your modaks look great too.Hrd to tell it was a first attempt.
Greetings to you and your family, Shrami!

Kajal said...

I like your each photo of Ganesh you have nice collection of Ganesh. I like this five with some instrument my dear....your Modaks looks nice my dear.....you post for Ganesha Chaturthi – Event my dear. This is very nice post only you send one recipe with this post. This is rocking entry.:))

Chris said...

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi, Sharmi!

Pravs said...

Cute looking ganesha. That's very creative of you. Happy Ganesh chaturthi.

bha said...

Happy ganesh chaturthi Sharmi....the ganesha idols are beautiful....nice pics

Sona - quick picks/pick quicks said...

cute fugurins of Lord Ganesh....very cute!!!

Anonymous said...

Great, I too did the same but did not make into a shape. I must admit I am not that talented so what we do is make a small triangular shape with turmeric powder and put kum kum on three sides.

Namratha said...

Hope you had a great festival Sharmi dear, Ganesha looks good!! Well done!

S said...

ur hand made ganesh is so beautiful i like it sharmi....the pooja mandir is too ggod

Unknown said...

Ur little ganesh looks awesome...
wonderful photos....thanks for sharing pizza too.

Suma Gandlur said...

Cute little Ganesha. I like it very much.

Kribha said...

Sharmi you are so talented. Turmeric Ganesha looks so artistic. Belated wishes to you dear.

Raaga said...

Your ganesha is beautiful and so are your modaks... come on Sharmi... I put up recipes of my broken stuff and you won't tell us about your beauties!

SeeC said...

Ganesha idols look very cute.
More than everything is your handmade one. Perfectly made Sharmi.

Pooja said...

you've a gr8 talent Sharmi !
Ur hand made Ganesh loooks so adorable !

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