GSB Ganesha King Circle 2009

GSB Ganesha King Circle 2009, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

Thanks to Dr BU Pai I start a new series at Flickr.com a series ,very close to my heart the GSB Ganpati King Circle 2009..I have been continuously shooting it since a few years now.

GSB means Gaud Sarawswat Brahmin..one of the finest peace loving community settled in Mumbai from the South, their humility , their love for Lord Ganesha touches every one including this barefeet Muslim blogger from Mumbai..

The GSB community , everyone men women and children leave no stone unturned to make this event a great spiritual success...everybody is doing some community service, as volunteers , feeding the crowds , keeping vigilance in such trying times ,the men dressed in lungis bared bodied move about serving the devotees of Lord Ganesha.. The King of King of King Circle..

I copy lines from their old brochure ...

"Dear Fellow devotee,
It is with great pleasure we inform you about the 55 th Shree Gaaneshotsav Celeberations of our GSB Seva Mandal which will be celebrated at Sri Sukriteendra Nagar , A Rama Nayak Halll grounds behind SNDT Womens college R A Kidwai marg Kings Circle Mumbai 19. from 23 th Aug,2009 till 27 th Aug 2009.
We also have the proud privilege to state that the Shree Ganeshotsav is celebrated by us with unique spiritual and religious focus to insure that all the offerings made to Lord Ganesha reach him in the purity of thoughts and action.
The five days celebration of Seva Mandal is one where all volunteers whole heartedly work day and night right from collection of donations to service towards the Lordand also his devotees thronging the Pandal to pay obeisance to the Lord.The Shrama Daan of our volunteers is truly worth watching at the venue.
The Lords idol stands majestically at height of 17 feet studded with gold ornaments and a beautiful gold crown.When the celebrations were first initiated by Seva Mandal , the Lords idol was 14 inches, .
It exemplifies the stature and glory of our Lord who is also known to fulfil wishes of his ardent devotees. Seva Mandal feels itself fortunate to be blessed by our Dharma Guru His HolinessSudhindra Titha Swamiji , The Mathadipati of Shri Kashi Math Samasthan without which these celebrations could not have scaled to such great heights…
May Lord Ganesha inspire and bless us all."


As Dr BU Pai was at work, he called me this morning to shoot the Lord and a unique ritual called Tolabar where a person is weighed on a scale and his weight equivalent to his offerings , coconuts ladoos, prasadam is presented to Lord Ganesha.

Photography is strictly prohibited , but thanks to the community and the GSB management I am allowed to shoot the Lord that he touches all of you on cyberspace, and these are over 800 pictures shot in a few hours.

Mr Dinesh Pai , Mr Dilip Pai the head honchos, and other volunteers helped me , and were hospitable in all aspects , today was my third fast of Ramzan, and nothing could tire me when it comes to sharing the bounty of Lord Ganesha not just as a religiosity but as my cultural inheritance.. thus continues my mission of Hope and Hindutva as a message of Peace.

As you are aware I shot Lal Bagh Cha Raja on the day of my first fast Aug 23 2009..and his first day in royal court at Lalbagh..

I completed uploading all this at Flickr today.


A incident took place this morning at the GSB GaneshaPandal which made me cry , I need to share it with all of you, while I was shooting the Lord a youth came to me and thanked me I had never met him before ,so I was quite surprised , he explained to me that due to unavoidable reasons he could not partake in the celebrations of his favorite Lard , last year .
Than he found my GSB pictures on Flickr.com , and attained his spiritual happiness and made his darshan too, , on hearing this I began to cry..

Photography is an instrument of Peace and as a Photo Blog it becomes a means to holistically heal the human soul..

I dedicate this to Hari Shenoy from Bhandup the youth whose eyes went moist seeing me cry, , he gave me a reason to heal myself too..and what is a Hindu or a Muslim ,if he is not touched by the love of humanity..We believe in God so we can believe in ourselves , I too gain a spiritual high as I shoot spirituality where a divinity comes in the form of clay to remind us of our own mortality , he touches and binds us all and than goes away to return again the following year..

Ganesha festival is about our nationality - making us good Indians irrespective of our caste color or creed .

Thank You Lord..


Om Parvati Putaaye, Hara Hara Hara Mahadev
Gajaananam Bhoota Ganaadhi Sevitam
Kapitta Jamboophaala Saara Bhakshitam
Umaasutam Shoka Vinaasha Kaaranam
Namaami Vighneswara Paada Pankajam

Thank you Dr BU Pai
Thank you Mr Dinesh Pai
Thank you Dilip Pai

Above all thank you GSB community.