Devotees carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, before immersing it into the Mediterraneo sea during Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Ceuta, Spain, August 27, 2017. REUTERS/Jesus Moron
NEW DELHI, INDIA, August 29, 2017 (Indian Express): Though the torrential rains in Mumbai have dampened the spirit a bit, nothing comes in between Lord Ganesha and his devotees, especially during Ganesh Chaturthi. While many parts of the city were flooded on Tuesday (August 29), people still managed to ferry Ganesha statues across to be immersed, and many visarjans took place at night when the rain had somewhat subsided. But, it seems, Mumbai – or even India – is not the only place that Ganpati Bappa or Ganesh Chaturthi is held in such reverence. Fly over to the other side of the globe, and you will find that the ritual of Ganesha visarjan holds equal importance in the city of Ceuta, Spain.
If, in India, the festival brings together people of all caste, class and religion as they collective welcome, worship and bid farewell annually to their beloved elephant-headed Deity, in Spain, it brings people from different cultures together as Indians and Spaniards collectively celebrate the festival. Interestingly, this is not the first time that Ganesh Chaturthi is being celebrated in Ceuta, this has been a tradition for many years now. Much like in India, people bring a statue of Ganesha home to worship, and then on the day of the immersion, there is an elaborate and fun-filled procession that walks through the streets towards the Mediterranean Sea. People then get on to various boats, and set off into the sea, where the statues are then immersed into the water.
HPI adds: at one part in the procession, the Ganesha Deity is taken to a Catholic Church where offerings are made to a statue of the Virgin Mary.
Photos at ”source” above. Full video of the festivities at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGMsFpHtpk8. Ganesha’s visit to the church starts at 18:53 where the Deity is first brought to the doorway, then to the main altar, all accompanied by singing and clapping.
ONTARIO, CANADA, July 8, 2006 (religioustolerance.org): HPI Note: The following report on religious freedom in Greece was published by an interreligious organization based in Canada. We were struck by the similarity of these laws to similar ones in some states of India which are the subject of international criticism from time to time. Below are two excerpts.
… Laws restricting freedom of religion were passed in Greece in 1938 and have never been repealed. One requires that anyone wishing to operate a place of worship must first obtain two permits: one from the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, and the other from the local bishop of the Greek Orthodox Church.
… Section 4 of Greek Law No. 1363/38, as amended by Law No. 1672/39, states: Anyone engaging in proselytism shall be liable to imprisonment and a fine of between 1,000 (US$3.50) and 50,000 ($175) drachmas; he shall, moreover, be subject to police supervision for a period of between six months and one year to be fixed by the court when convicting the offender. By ”proselytism” is meant, in particular, any direct or indirect attempt to intrude on the religious beliefs of a person of a different religious persuasion (eterodoxos), with the aim of undermining those beliefs, either by any kind of inducement or promise of an inducement or moral support or material assistance, or by fraudulent means or by taking advantage of the other person’s inexperience, trust, need, low intellect or naivete. The commission of such an offence in a school or other educational establishment or philanthropic institution shall constitute a particularly aggravating circumstance.”
INDIA, August 31, 2017 (Telegraph India, by Kanwal Sibal): The West has built a lot of myths about China which others, including in India, have accepted without challenge. That China was for centuries the dominant power in Asia and is now on the way to recovering that lost status is one such myth. This historical distortion is serving to legitimize China’s hegemonic ambitions, as if China has the right to recover its natural position in Asia and any resistance amounts to denying the Chinese their due. The question is never asked as to how China dominated India, the second largest Asian country that has always been comparable in terms of the depth of civilization, demography as well as geography. Did China ever dominate India politically, economically, militarily or otherwise?
In reality, the Indian civilization owes nothing to China, whereas China is heavily marked by the influence of Indian civilization through Buddhism. A visit to the Temple of Heaven in Beijing reveals how deep the imprint of Buddhist thinking and architecture on Chinese imperial monuments is. The connection with the Indian civilization is palpable in China. There is no such imprint or legacy of Han China in India. Even in Southeast Asia, the Indian civilizational influence is far more marked than the Chinese. The pervasive influence of Hindu epics and Sanskrit on the cultural landscape of Southeast Asia is truly remarkable. Militarily too, China has not dominated Asia. In fact, China has had no historical contact with India on its land frontiers and therefore any notion that China had military supremacy in Asia is totally false.
Much more at ”source” above.
You can gain an intricate control of the various things that change in and about you. Lean your thoughts and feelings in the right direction, and discover how quickly your circumstances will change their direction.
— Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001), founder of Hinduism Today
