Srivalli Sarada of Attenborough Place in Nirimba Fields, Blacktown, holds in her hand a platter filled with an array of food items.
They are offerings for the Hindu God Ganesh, in the middle of the annual ten-day festival dedicated to him, called Ganesh Chaturthi.
“There’s Gujarati dhokla, Maharashtrian modak, Kadabu from Karnataka, cholae from Punjab, puliyogare from Telangana, Chakkare Pongal from Tamil Nadu, laddus from Fiji, samosas from Haryana, rabdi from Delhi, and the famous athirasa from Sri Lanka,” she describes. “You could say it’s a symbol of national integration and international harmony!”
These offerings (or bhog as they are called) for Attenborough Ganesha, have been prepared by residents of the street. It is a unique street, where more than ninety percent of the homes are occupied by people from India, Sri Lanka and Fiji. They have been coming together every evening for joint prayers to Ganesha, at the home of Vivek and Sadhana Nigam, who have gladly lent their garage and decorated it beautifully as the main centre of the festivities.
Worshipped as the remover of obstacles and bestower of happiness, health and harmony, Ganesha is surely creating much harmony and bringing about lots of happiness in this little part of Western Sydney.
Talking to Indian Link, Vivek Nigam, who initiated this joint observance of the Attenborough Ganesha Festival said, “This festival has connected our entire neighbourhood, and we feel we are members of the same family. This community has provided our children the aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents that most of them have always missed.”
This is the second year the community-level festival has been held at Attenborough Place, and it looks set to become an annual event.
This festival is not only connecting many Indian-origin families here, but more importantly acquainting children with their roots and culture.
“As a vibrant group celebration, it fosters a sense of belonging and pride in our culture,” says Alpa Shah, who organises the children’s activities. “Every evening throughout the week-long event, we’ve had activities for the children, divided into two age groups.”
Sowjanya Sai, who has helped organise the activities, shares, “The kids have loved drawing and painting their own Ganeshas. Big belly, large ears, small eyes – it’s been such fun explaining these features of Ganesha.”
It all culminated in a wonderful skit presented by the little ones, based on the stories of Ganesha that they had heard.
For young Karthik however, the highlight has been something else. “We get to eat yummy food all week, that’s what I look forward to in the evenings,” he says with a glint in his eye as he receives another yummy modak from Sowjanya Sai, a neighbour-turned-aunty.
Trisha happily shares crayons with her friend Arya as they get their artworks ready for the drawing and painting competition.
For many children the quiz on Ganesha, a very popular and a well-contested activity has been a highlight. “Parents are pleasantly surprised to see the thorough preparations done for the quiz,” says Srinivas Iskapalli. “It’s a learning opportunity for us elders too.”
The women are revelling in the ten-day celebrations in their own way.
“We rush home every evening after work to prepare the offerings with devotion and enthusiasm,” Ramya Naveen reveals. “Through the stress of the working day, we have something to look forward to – dressing up for aarti (communal prayers) and greeting friends. It’s a delightful change from the routine of everyday working life.”
Other popular community-level Ganesh Festival celebrations have been organised in Berowra by the Hornsby Ganapati group, in Parramatta by the Telugu Samithi, in Blacktown by the Western Sydney Ganeshotsav and of course in various Hindu temples.
The big one though, by the Friends of India group who are organising their 29th mega Ganesh Festival, will be at the Whitlam Centre in Liverpool on Saturday 21 September. This is by far the largest Ganeshotsav in Sydney, set to kick off with a puja in the morning and a grand cultural extravaganza in the evening, followed by immersion of the idol the next day.
As curtains are drawn on the festivities across Sydney, the Marathi chant of ‘Ganapati bappa morya, pudhchya warshi lavkar ya’ will resonate: dear Ganesh, come back soon next year.
And when he does visit again next year, perhaps you might like to drop in at Nirimba Fields to say your own Namaste – to Attenborough Ganesha.
READ MORE: My own Ganesha: Murthy Dakshin’s idol-making workshops
