Tasting Maharashtrian delicacies at October Food Fest, Mumbai

                                                                                                   ||श्री||

Working at my desk on Thursday afternoon, I had a very different idea about how my weekend was going to be, until a friend sent me a link on Facebook. 

Just then, I knew its time to get into 'Man v/s Food' mode. ;)

Soon it was Friday evening and with my Foodie friends marched to the October Food Fest. The venue was perfect - a Stadium - the place we had showdown between Food and Foodies; and as usual a huge number of dishes were conquered!

crispy Kachoris from Shegaon.

Drooling with anticipation, it was hard to be patient and walk all the way to the main entrance, especially when there were so many other (not so) secret entrances on the way. So we decided to sneak in using on of these entry points and landed right in front of the stall with delicious Kachoris from Shegaon. Yumm! - Soft inside, crisp outside and so tasty! 

Varhadi Special - Patodi, Zunka, Bhakri.

The next immediate stall served Zunka-Bhakar and other typical staple food of the rural Maharashtra, that are fast becoming popular among the City dwellers too! and going by the taste of it, I don't see any reason why it shouldn't. This particular Stall was from Varhad/Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.

While my taste buds were busy enjoying the real taste of Maharashtra, little did I expect for a Visual and aural treat - an exhilarating performance of Dhol-Tasha, also commonly known as Nashik Dhol these days. I was able to capture a section of their performance, the best part of it!

my favorite moment in the video is at 01:52, where after a buildup, the music stops for a moment and then suddenly they start again at the previous high energy note enhancing it with dancing with the Huge Dhol! Brilliant, just Brilliant!

Tasting one dish after another, the best way to take a break would be Kulfi; and we found a stall for that too! 

After this well deserved break, we continued our exploration and soon encountered a difficult terrain - the valley of the FISH! There stood a huge section of atleast 20 to 30 stalls that served typical Koli dishes. This would be heaven for a sea-food lover, but since I am a strict vegetarian, I was trying to find something vegetarian in this region. A difficult task, but not impossible. :P

Koli women dressed in traditional attire served freshly cooked fish and other sea food. My

object of interest was Sol-Curry - a specialty from the Konkan region of Maharashtra. Prepared from Coconut Milk and Kokam. It is something one must not miss; and the best part is, its totally Vegetarian!  Enjoying the ambrosial taste of Sol-curry, I realised that my vegetarian Foodie comrades had abandoned me and moved on to the vegetarian section. I, on the other hand, had yet to cross another adjoining section of Kolhapuri, Nagpuri and other Nonveg stalls; but with Sol-curry cup in my hand, it was all worth it. 

NB: For all Non-veg food enthusiasts,  DO NOT miss the last part of this post. 

                                                                              I was kind of peeved on my friends for abandoning me, but they had struck GOLD (offcourse, vegetatian Gold) - Ukadi che Modak! A Konkani sweet dish, thats favorite of the Lord himself! Lord Ganesha loves these! and when your friends have found something so delicious, its hard not to forgive them. 

Whats the best way to end a feast? Paan! Standing with friends, chewing Paan under the full moon of Sharad Poornima in open grounds of a huge stadium with a bloated belly with amazing food from every corner of Maharashtra - can life get any better!

*Burp ... oh it just did ;)

There are Handi-crafts stalls too. Don't forget to check them out. 

And here is something for all the Non-vegetarians : Feast your eyes 

Mumbai Ganapati Visarjan

||श्री||

A Hindu festival that was once only limited to people's homes was transformed by Bal Gangadhar Tilak to bring people together and spread awareness and the result was Grand scale celebrations of Ganeshotsav/Ganapati Festival; which with time, has grown larger than life! Ganapati Visarjan is the perfect time to witness the scale of this Mega-festival of Maharashtra.

For 10 days Lord Gananapati is celebrated  with great devotion and Zeal. Huge Pandals decorated like palaces witness cultural programs including Bhajan recitals and Dance performances.

Devotees stand in long ques for hours to get a glimpse of their beloved deity, for Darshan/sight that inspires a spiritual connection with the divine. Its not uncommon to find tears trickle down someone's cheeks at such a time and place. 

At some places, even fairs are held. Usually such big Pandals celebrate the festival for 11 days, some for even 21 days! The city immerses itself in excitement and exhilaration of the festival.

Letting go someone you love is difficult, yetnecessary...for how will we meet again, if we never part ways? One may argue, If according to Hinduism, God resides within us how can we ever part ways? The answer is simple - a drop though is one with Ocean when in ocean, alone it travels the world to finally again be one with the Ocean. In body, we too are just a drop, a part but apart. 

Towards the end of the festival, Mumbaikars prepare to bid adieu to their beloved Ganesha, with a hope to see him soon the next year. With Dance and Music, with Drums and firecrackers, huge processions accompany Ganapati to bid farewell. 

Ganpati images from homes are brought out with cries of "Ganapati Bappa morya, pudhchya varshi lavkar ya". The latter half translates as "come back soon again the next year", while the former half goes much deeper. 

Morya Gosavi was a famous devotee of Lord Ganesh in 14th century. The words 'Ganpati Bappa Morya' depict the inseparable relationship between a Devotee and God. Today, all Devotees of Lord Ganesh are called Morya.
while the smaller Images are carried by people in their hands, the bigger ones ride on Trucks and other vehicles.

The procession is no less than a King's Parade. The carnival travels slowly, inching its way towards the Sea, where the Lord's images are  immersed. People dance all the way on the beats of drums (with changing times, on DJ's music too) 

 

One of the best spots to be at during Ganesh Visarjan is near Versova Beach. The number of different Ganesha images one gets to see here in a small interval of time is mind blowing! With camera in my hands, I was at the perfect spot at perfect time...until it started to drizzle. It was time to cover the Images to protect them. Oh wait! weren't these people taking the Ganesha images to be immersed in water afterall? Yes, but you don't just push your guests out of your house and get rid of them; you lovingly see them off, atleast the ones you are so fond of.

Its a sea of People out there on the night of Ganpati Visarjan, literally!Thanks to Mumbai Police, BMC staff and volunteers of various NGOs, this Mega-event goes smoothly. People travel with Ganesha Images on trucks as well as walk behind the trucks. This goes on till late night. The energy of this city on this day is amazing!

I remained there as long as I could, finally to return home totally drained of all my energy but drenched in the an exhilarating experience! 

|| Ganpati Bappa Morya ||

Mumbai Ganapati Darshan

||श्री||

A few days back, while reading an article, two sentences caught my attention - 

 "The Sanskrit term “darshan,” means sight. It is often used to describe an immediate spiritual connection that can occur while looking upon a representation of a Hindu deity."

Right from the beginning of Ganesotsav/Ganapati Festival, one of my childhood friend, Aniruddha Sukhatankar, has been, on Facebook, regularly updating photographs of different Ganpati pandals that he visited each day. While chatting with him I asked, "how about we share these photographs with a wider audience, helping them get Darshan of the beautiful Deities." He enthusiastically e-mailed me his collection along with the details of their location in Mumbai. The Photographs are many, and time to edit and upload is limited, So more will be added later. All the credits go to Aniruddha Sukhatankar for bringing us these beautiful photographs. May Lord Ganapati bless us all. 

||Ganapati Bappa Moriya ||

Lalbaugcha Raja

Ganesh Gully, Lalbaug

Santacruzcha Raja 

A huge Ganpati idol made of 32,000 pencils in Malad, Mumbai.

GSB Seva Mandal, Wadala 

Dadar, Near Podar College

Manish Nagar, Andheri (w) 

Malad

Santacruz

Vile Parle (East)

Andheri Station (East)

Chikhalwadicha Ganpati, Grant Road

Akhil Chandanwadi, Marine Lines

Chirabazaarcha Raja, Marine Lines

Nikadwari Lane, Charni Road

Grant Road 

Bringing Ganpati Home

||श्री||

|| अतिथि देवो भव || -  Atithi Devo Bhava 

- We extend our hospitality to our guests as we would to our Gods...

and when the Lord himself is about to grace your humble abode in guise of  a guest, 

what would you do?

The most awaited festival of Mumbai (and Maharashtra) is here! The entire city is Euphoric on arrival of the Lord loved by one and all - Ganpati/Ganesh. The sound of Nashik Dhol with the cries of 'Ganpati Bappa Morya' pervades each and every street. 

Preparations of Ganeshotsav or Ganpati festival begins well before the arrival of the Lord. Ganesh Chaturthi (4th day) of Bhadrapad month of Hindu calender (09 September 2013) marks the beginning of this 11 days long festival. While larger deities adorn big pandals, many people also bring smaller deities of Ganesh to their homes for 1 1/2, 3, 5, 7 0r 11 days. 

Bringing Ganpati home for a few days provides an outlet for an individual's love and devotion for the Lord. It is an opportunity to connect with the divine on a personal level. 

Markets are full of beautiful Ganesh idols before the beginning of the festival. 

This year 'Eco-friendly' Ganpati made up of clay have been in more demand, as opposed to the ones made with Plaster of Paris which do not disintegrate easily. Seems like the Lord of Knowledge has finally blessed people with wisdom to protect and conserve nature. 

Imagine a Heart's joys when the creator of the Universe in guise of a little Idol allows itself to be carried by it devotees. The Divine in the mortal form becomes vulnerable; the protector of the world is now protected by his devotees and the one who feeds every living organism is fed little modaks. 

Faces of Ganesha Idols, are covered with a cloth while bringing them home, to protect them from people's evil eyes. The Almighty, for the love of his devotees, accepts to be vulnerable.

The Ganesha Idols vary in size from a few inches to about 20 feet! people carry them in their hands, on push carts, cars and Trucks, depending on the size. 

with the beats of Nashik Dhol, Lord Ganpati with his devotees cheerfully dancing and chanting his name, travels towards pandals and homes.

In Bhagvad Gita (9.26) Krishna says to Arjun -

"If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it." 

The meaning is what, and deeper than what, it appears. No matter how humble the offering is, the Lord will accept anything offered with love and devotion. 

The offerings are in order of one's spiritual evolution 

- a leaf represents the mere physical action,

- a flower is a devoted mind, a higher level of spiritual connection,

- a Fruit is even higher state of spiritual evolution, where the mind yet recognises itself with

the body. 

- Water is the highest level of spiritual evolution - Transparent and pure, a drop does not differentiate itself with the other, takes the shape of whatever container it is stored in, and continuously travels towards the Sea. 

For the next 11 days Ganesha blesses his devotees with his presence and accepts their humble offerings full of love and devotion. 

Visit the City once during this Festival, and you'll never forget the experience!

|| Ganpati Bappa Morya ||