Ganesha comes to Sydney’s north shore

The Ganesh festival was held at the community level for the first time at Hornsby this year. Led by the Bedarkar family who are well-known for recreating the spirit of the iconic festival, the event saw some 200 people gather at Asquith Community Centre. They offered joint prayers to Ganesha, the God of Good Beginnings and the Remover of Obstacles.

The priest Sriparashara Hrishikesha Bhatt performed the rituals in Sanskrit, translating as best as he could in English while also elaborating, and got the crowd to repeat after him at significant points. The clay idol of Ganesh sat in all its glory on a raised platform, as Shailendra and Rashmi Bedarkar took turns to offer, on behalf of all present, the ritual druva glass blades, red flowers, coconut, modak and chandan sandalwood paste.

The crowd chanted together the

108 salutations dedicated to Lord Ganesha, and the singing of the Ganesh Aarti reverberated in the hall.

For Shai and Rashmi, the Marathi tradition of Ganeshutsav has been a labour of love. An annual event at their home, they prepare for the ten-day celebration months in advance, painstakingly sculpting their idol of Ganesha and decorating it with a particular creative theme each year (Ashta Vinayaka, the twelve chakras, lotus, swan, and muladhara being a few). Their festivities began to attract such numbers each year that this year it simply had to take on a public form. There is no doubt that it will become an annual community celebration from here on.

“Our aim was always to recreate the passion and fervour of the celebrations in Mumbai, for our kids here”, Shai told Indian Link He certainly seems to have succeeded, as he pointed out that evening, in the case of young Roma Kore. She first came to their Ganesh festival ten years ago as a baby in her mother’s arms. She returned, quite like Ganesh himself, each year, and this time round, presented a dance item as a confident and beautiful elevenyear-old.

Besides the pooja and cultural items, friends and family chipped in to create a mela feel – with stalls offering food and mehendi and other services.