Post by Samita Shah

This weekend marks the end of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival which is celebrated with much (and ever increasing) pomp and fervour in Maharashtra, particularly in Mumbai. Community pandals with large idols of the city’s favourite god come up in every lane ushering a festive mode and generating economic activity between US$5-10billion as estimated by different sources.  While the celebrations attract large crowds, they are relatively well behaved and thanks to the Greater Mumbai Police, the city operates smoothly even during the mammoth immersion processions that end at dawn at the end of 10th day. I came across this article which traces the origins of this public celebration to the British’s attempt at divide and rule in the late 1800s. Apparently about 150 years ago it was customary for Hindus to participate in the tabut processions held during Moharrum where tabuts - a word that literally means “coffin” - are taken to the seaside or bank of a river and immersed. A new British rule and a bunch of miscreants ignited sparks between the communities in Pune, the second largest city in Maharashtra, which led the media advocating people to abandon the tradition of participating in each other’s religious celebrations. And this chain of events led to Ganesh Chaturthi, which was largely a private celebration till then (as it continues to be in other parts of western India even today) morphing into the public community festival as we know it today in Maharashtra. The article provides a fascinating glimpse of community life a few centuries ago which has since faded from public memory. It is behind a paywall but hoping the author Abhinav Chandrachud and The Indian Express to post the same. As they say, those who ignore History do so at their own peril. May Lord Ganesha, who is revered for his intellect, bless us all with wisdom to sieve through the noise and learn from history 🙏🏾 #SAMusings #history #Ganpati https://lnkd.in/duiUpMmK