Gauri Visarjan

Gauri Visarjan
Originally uploaded by flickr photographerno1

I did not go for the 6 day Visarjan also known as Gauri Visarjan, and I remember I had shot Gauri at Girgaum Chowpatty..on negatives many years back.
This picture was shot two years back at Juhu beach,
Much as I tried to make it yesterday, but I was in a very depressedstate of mind, and I have hurt my feet walking barefeet ..so I will have to be careful, I am lucky that I do not owe allegiance to any fanatic faith , and thank God I consider myself a Shia , thought the Shia Pandit title has been given to me by my detractors, one derogatory remark that I like, atleast I am also lucky not to be from the Sunni Faith so it saves me from Fatwas, imagine going to an Arti of a Ganeshotsav and to be condemned by the clergy in a hick town of Bareilly, any way it is nothing but a way of garnering free publicity, the Mullah needs more publicity to survive... than the uncommonly common man..

Now I copy my old post on Gauri from my homesite..
www.photographerno1.com


I shot the pictures a little ahead of Juhu Koliwada, as I knew the end near Ramada would be jam packed, and I did not have the strength , to be more adventurous , and these are small house Ganpatis that are immeresd on the 7th Day and also the Idols of Gauri and Ganga...and I came back to my shop at 7pm, to post them before you see it in the news papers tomorrow.


Gauri represents purity and austerity. She is the Kanya (young, unmarried) Parvati who had undergone severe penance in order to get Lord Shiva as her husband. Sita, the consort of Lord Rama, had worshipped Gauri to fulfill her desire to marry Lord Rama. Unmarried girls worship Gauri in order to get a virtuous husbands.
www.csuohio.edu/hindu/Gauri.htm

Goddess Ganga..
Ganga is the goddess of the river Ganges, India's most sacred body of water. Hindus believe that bathing in her holy waters will help wash one's sins away, and hence they conduct repeated ritualistic washings in the river to secure a place in heaven.
Her power to wash away sins and liberate is so strongly believed that the ashes of the dead are spread over her. Ganga is usually represented as a beautiful woman with a fish's tail in place of legs, and she rides on the Makara, a water monster.
One myth about the origin of Ganga is that the god Vishnu once heard Shiva play the flute. Vishnu was so entranced by the music that his feet began to melt. Brahma caught the liquefied portion of Vishnu in a pot and from it created Ganga. Hence Ganga is also known as Vishnu-padi (she-who-was-born-out-of-Vishnu's-feet).
Originally Ganga flowed only in the heavens, but then was ordered to go down to earth. Not wanting to, she threatened to flood the whole world. The gods were so afraid of her that they sought the help of Shiva.
Shiva broke the fall of Ganga by capturing her in his mighty locks of hair. Since then, Ganga resides on top of Shiva's head as his second wife, the first being Parvati.
www.siamese-dream.com/reference/ganga.html