The Maharashtrians of South Florida gathered on Saturday evening and feted one of Hinduism's most beloved deities - Ganesha - at the Herb Skolnick Civic Center in Pompano Beach.
A small altar had been set up, and about eight people sat cross-legged in front it. A woman wearing a sari and holding a microphone conducted the puja, or prayer ceremony. "Usually it is a male priest," our friend Jaideep told us. Jaideep is a visiting Marathi journalist. At one point the woman asked everyone in the hall to join in on an "Om," and it hung in the air for several powerful seconds.
The service went on for over an hour, and included the chanting of the 108 names for the elephant-headed Ganesha. Behind the altar sat eight portraits of the deity in different poses, each one representing, according to Jaideep, a temple dedicated to Ganesha in India. Ganesha is known, among other things, as the lord of letters and learning, a clever god and a lover of intelligence. Revered throughout India, he is especially important in Maharashtra, a large state that includes Mumbai. "It's like Texas," an anesthesiologist told me.
Before we could eat, offerings of food were first presented to Ganesha. "There is no other religion," Jaideep remarked, "that can compare in symbolism and ritual with Hinduism."
A children's talent show followed the puja: small Marathi-Americans reciting the poems and singing the songs and doing the dances of a distant homeland. Jaideep watched with interest, noting how difficult it must be to keep alive such traditions in modern-day Florida. After this came a short play about a mother and her three daughters-in-law.
At last, we joined a colorful queue for food. The only non-Indians, Hania and I were also about the only people in Western dress. I filled a plastic plate with rice, dhal, eggplant and potatoes, spicy pickle, and chapati. As I headed to a chair, a woman in a yellow sari spooned some coconut flakes onto my plate. "Ganesha likes this," she said.
