Lakshmi and the River Ganga

One of the special gifts of traveling in a country with a different culture, is the opportunity to witness unobtrusively, what are considered ordinary events of daily life but which to the observer may seem quite the opposite. This happened to me one morning on the banks of the Ganges River(Ganga in India). Our group had walked down to see the Ghats, or stairs, that provide access to this river considered sacred throughout India. As I had grown accustomed to seeing, there along its banks daily life was unfolding: people were bathing, swimming, getting their hair cut, purchasing goods-taking care of all the necessities of life. Suddenly a large flatbed truck pulls up to the sound of loud chanting. The flatbed contained a tall straw and mud plaster statue of the Hindu Goddess, Lakshmi, The chanting was coming from about 10 young men, dressed in school uniform, complete with oxford shirts and ties, who were there to release the flower decked statue of the goddess to the waters of the Ganges as their supplication for her blessings. Their leader led the chanting as they leaped from the truck and proceeded to hoist Lakshmi onto their shoulders and carry her down to the water's edge. The fervency and camaraderie of their endeavor electrified the foreign bystanders but was taken as a matter of course by the local populace. The man getting a trim had to move over briefly for the statue to pass, but then quickly sat back down so his barber could finish up. No sooner had Lakshmi been properly launched than another group arrived with another statue to offer up, albeit a much smaller one. We learned afterwards that the statues are biodegradable, and are usually allowed to float only a short distance down the river before they are retrieved. The mud casing can be easily removed once they are wet and the straw reused for another deity.

Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth and fortune in the Hindu faith. To see pictures of her launching onto the waters of the Ganga, click India Photo Journal, to the right.