Visarjan: God's Own Farewell Party

A few days back the city was brought to a stand still by the seaward movement of a large rotund figure, all decked in gold. No I am talking about Bappi Lahiri going out for a stroll. What I refer to is the grand visarjan of Lord Ganesha.

Let me recapitulate for those of you who may not be fully aware of what a visarjan is probably because you’re a bit ignorant when it comes to religious rituals or you were born and raised on a different planet. Ganesh Chaturthi, which is the celebration of Lord Ganesha, is a 10 day festival that ends with idols of the deity being submerged in water causing irreparable damage to the marine ecosystem.

Though the festival lasts for 10 days, worshippers are allowed to immerse their respective idols at regular intervals depending on how many visitors they can stand coming to their house. One can immerse an idol after one and half days, 5 days, 7 days and if you can withstand the onslaught of relatives, friends and bhajans for a while longer, 10 days. 

The actual virsarjan is just as grand an event as the worship. Transportation is arranged to carry the idol to the local water body. This is can be anything, from a cart or a tempo to being just one really strong family member. Then a shaadi band is arranged for because what God really wants for his send-off is not prayers or a tearful goodbye but a really loud, instrumental rendition of, ‘Sheela Ki Jawani.’

The Visarjan procession is an age old tradition that involves large groups of people dancing to music and holding up as much traffic as possible. No other time would you see people this happy when going to immerse an object in water. Slogans are shouted out(“Ganpati Bappa Morya”, “Ek, Do, Teen, Chaar, Ganpaticha Jay Jay Kaar.” And, “Chalo Chalo Aage Bado.”), songs are sung and the whole family, including the 78 year old grandmothers, dance tirelessly in what is, a makeshift disco on the road.

Eventually, they manage to reach a water body and after beating off all the other Visarjan candidates for a nice spot, the Ganpati Idol is immersed. The Ganpati Idols which are made of paint and other harmful chemicals then get dissolved in water and are more damaging to the environment than Jayalalitha is after dinner.

To get around this problem, artificial lakes are created. These are basically pits that are dug and filled with water specifically so that idols can be immersed in them without it being a holocaust for fish. This is one of the most bizarre ways to solve a problem. Its like, instead of getting people to stop smoking you look to grow them another lung.

Overall the Visarjan is just one grand farewell party, fit for a God. I could never ever imagine any of my friends or colleagues ever giving me such a smashing farewell party, complete with music, dancing and such boisterousness! What I can imagine them doing, however, is immersing me in an artificial lake.