The Human Touch

THE FESTIVAL OF Ganesh Chaturthi has just begun and an image of an idol caught the attention of social media—it was the God dressed as the hero of the movie Pushpa: The Rise, white shirt and white trousers, the back of the palm slicing its way through the underside of the jaw, a gesture that briefly became enormously popular as the movie went on to be a massive blockbuster last year. This depiction has led to amusement but few are offended because this is how Ganesha or Ganpati is displayed, in forms connected to pop culture ever since the festival turned into a public celebration. In fact, you get an indication of why Ganesha is one of the most popular gods of the Hindu pantheon precisely from this phenomenon.

Eight years ago, while doing a feature article on the God, I had spoken to the man who creates the idol of Lalbaugcha Raja, the most popular pandal in Mumbai during the festival. Before him, his father used to make the idols. He attributed the popularity of that pandal to how his father conceived the God—closer and slimmer to a human form, the familiar potbelly considerably toned down. It is a striking irony that the God was being turned ever more human-like, but that then led to an ever more line of worshippers. By becoming human, he became relatable to humans. Otherwise, it is easy for a god to be forbidding because, after all, the relationship is hardly that of an equal. Among Hindu gods, there are many far higher in the hierarchy but, if there were to be a poll today, Ganesha would probably rank somewhere at the top in popular appeal.

But this was not a god who began as the most powerful or totally omnipotent. His earliest references are as an elephant deity in the shrine of a city in what is now Afghanistan. The road to the divine top was gradual, metamorphosing from folklore worship with attributes not entirely benign, from a God beseeched to create obstacles for enemies to then becoming one that removed one’s own problems, a subtle shift of his power but one that elevated him to a more benevolent figure because, all other things being equal, niceness travels faster.

Ganesha is everywhere. The major Hindu temples might not have him as their tutelary deity but he is there as a constant presence in them on the sidelines. A hymn to him is often mandatory before a puja. He is said to be the son of Shiva even though he doesn’t begin that way; it was an elevation that was done because he became too popular to be ignored and had to be given his due. He has seamlessly made a transition into modern times. The turning of Ganesh Chaturthi as a public festival began as an instrument of the freedom struggle. Today, television serials, movies and online pujas are done on him. This is a God who worked his way up, and with the ability to be perpetually relevant. In now being depicted like Bollywood characters, he continues on that trajectory.

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