September 17th was Lord Ganesha's birthday. We celebrate it as Ganesha Chaturthi. Back in India every year we used to keep an idol of Ganesha for Puja and after 3 days leave the idol into the water for 'Visarjan'. This was the first time in the US we planned on keeping Ganesha idol for puja and performing Homa. We invited lots of people and everyone made it to the puja. We prepared modakas for the occasion and enjoyed a wonderful rainy Sunday. Check out the pictures [click on the picture to enlarge and navigate along] and read the descriptions for each picture and add your comments and do sign the guestbook. Thanks to everyone for making it and making us feel good.
May lord Ganesha bless you all,
Priya and Karthik
Date(s): September 19, 2004. Album by Karthik Nagaraj. Photos by Harsha and Karthik. 1 - 24 of 24 Total. 1727 Visits.
enlarge 156KB, 600x800 1 Ganapati Pappa Moriya... We setup the table in the living room and cleared out the sofa so that all of us could sit down for puja and the homa. There you can see Lord Ganesha with his mother, Goddess Gowri. Isn't the idol of lord Ganesha looking nice?
enlarge 175KB, 800x600 2 The Sanctum-Sanctorum We have a wider picture of the sanctum. On the table you can see various idols of lord Ganesha in different poses. The 'OM' was brought by Somik from Shantiniketan, India. The corners of the table are adorned with planton stem leaves and both the sides are having a flower pot. Arrangements for the Homa was made right in front of the table.
enlarge 190KB, 800x600 3 Abhishekam to the lord Pt. Govind Srinivasanji started the puja by first explaining to all of us the significance of Ganesha Puja and then started the abhishekam to the lord. Abhishekam is the ritual bathing of the God with 5 nectars - Panchamrutha - Milk, Curd, Honey, Ghee and Sugar.
enlarge 172KB, 800x600 4 One side Ashok, Pramod, Saurabh, Somik and Manish watch as abhishkam is performed to the lord. Harish is only half seen in this picture.
enlarge 146KB, 800x600 5 The other side Anu's mom and dad, Chitra, Prathibha and Garima watch the abhishekam.
enlarge 137KB, 600x800 6 Kalasha Puja Kalasha Puja is one of the most sacred parts of the puja and Homa. Kalasha, means, a pot, in this case a silver pot. The kalasha is filled with clean water. Beetal leaves are placed in all four directions on the pot with part of the beetal leaf sticking inside the pot and part of it outside. On top of this a coconut is placed. The coconut has the 'Swastik' symbol drawn out in Haldi. The entire pot with the coconut is placed in a silver plate with rice. Typically a small idol of Lord Ganesha which one generally uses to perform puja at home is placed in front of the Kalasha. It is this idol that we use for the abhishekam. In this picture you can see Pt. Govindji performing the Kalasha puja before the Homa.
enlarge 177KB, 800x600 7 Homa begins The homa began and each of us had to recite 'Om Gum Ganapathaye Swahah:' 108 times. We offered Modaka to lord Ganesha through the Homam.
enlarge 178KB, 800x600 8 That's us A closeup of us performing the Homa.
enlarge 178KB, 800x600 9 Prasadam The Homa was completed and we had to bring out the prasadham for performing the Nyvedhyam. The Prasadham included Lemon Rice, Curd rice, Modakam, Spicy Modakam, Payasam and Srikand.
enlarge 153KB, 800x600 10 Aarthi We all stand up for the Aarthi.
enlarge 169KB, 800x600 11 Govindji performing the Aarthi
enlarge 198KB, 800x600 12 Another shot
enlarge 124KB, 800x600 13 Theertam and Panchamrutham Govindji and myself giving out the Theertam and Panchamrutham to everyone.
enlarge 134KB, 800x600 14 Salutations Priya and myself offer our salutations to Pt. Govindji.
enlarge 128KB, 800x600 15 Sri Gurubyo Namah Harih Om We recited the mantram 'Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Gurur devo Maheshwara, Guru Saakshath ParaBrahma, Tasmay Sri Guruve Namah'
enlarge 162KB, 800x600 17 Somik and the kids Somik enjoying with Radhika and Dhananjay. Somik tries hard to make the kids smile, but invariably they start to shout, cry and act cranky around him. Somik, its time you realized its not just Kesini, Radhika or Dhananjay... "But honestly speaking Somik enjoys w..." View Comments...
enlarge 124KB, 800x600 18 Drawings One of the drawings of the kids.
enlarge 194KB, 800x600 19 The Prasadham After the Homa and Puja were completed, the prasadham was heated and ready to be served. Payasam and round sweet modakam was made by Anu and her mom [thanks to them for the wonderful Payasam, yummy, my mouth waters even now as I write this comment], lemon rice and curd rice was prepared by Priya, sweet modakam was prepared by both Priya and myself and spicy modakam was prepared by me. Somik prepared the srikhand and arranged the raisins in the form of 'OM'. That was very thoughtful and sweet of Somik - Thanks ! Everyone enjoyed the prasadham and had a wonderful time.
enlarge 156KB, 800x600 20 The Gang - 1 Radhika, Saurabh, Pramod and Somik.
enlarge 169KB, 800x600 21 Tha Gang - 2 Priya, Prathibha, Garima, Saurabh, Radhika, Harsha, Radha-Bala and Dhananjay.
enlarge 163KB, 800x600 22 The Gang - 3 Lata, Anu's mom, Priya, Anu and Anu's dad.
enlarge 142KB, 800x600 23 The Gang - 4 Chitra and Ashok.
enlarge 211KB, 800x600 24 The Gang - 5 A nice group picture - From the left standing - Harsha, Harish, Prathibha, Garima, Manish, Somik, Pramod, Saurabh, Ashok and Chitra. From the left sitting in the middle - Anu's dad, Anu, Anu's mom and Radhika. From the left sitting in front - Lata, Dhananjay, Radha-Bala, Karthik and Priya.
