Home » Thirsty Thursday

Intoxication of a different kind

23 October 2008 30 Comments

India can be termed as God-intoxicated country. There is no situation, environment or place that the Indian does not have a god for.

There are gods for vegetation, for weather, for nature, for geographical areas, for villages, for the house, in the temples, in running water, gods in deepest forest and in icy mountain heights.

Gods can inspire, infuse creativity and provoke destruction too. And so, the Indian festivals are incomplete without worshipping these deities.

Vibrantly coloured, elaborately painted and decorated these idols are bought & brought home, worshipped, sometimes for several days before being immersed in accordance with faith into nearby rivers, lakes and the sea where they are.

They are available in all sizes to suit the size of pockets and the place where they are to be kept.

Earlier the idols were made of clay, straw and organic vegetable dyes but environmentalists claim now the idols are mostly made from non-biodegradable materials such as plastic, cement and plaster of Paris (PoP) and painted using toxic dyes.

First the body is painted in single colour, then other colours are added for clothes etc., then eyes and other intricate details are marked and in the end all ornaments with gold & silver colors.

Worshipped at home & now on its last journey… for immersion

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30 Comments »

  • Kanan said:

    Do you fast on thursdays? I love the photo & colorss. Ganpatibappa looks beautiful.

    # 24 October 2008 at 7:28 AM
  • Cuckoo (author) said:

    Kanan,
    Welcome to this blog as well !

    Thursday ? Why that question ? Oh, is it because of my Thirsty Thursday posts ? Ha Ha Ha….
    No, I don’t fast on Thursdays and it has nothing to do with that.

    Thirsty Thursday posts are mostly pictograph types with no or very little description.

    Yes, I also like the vibrant colours. In fact I have many more pictures of these deities.

    Thanks for your visit, keep coming.

    # 24 October 2008 at 10:01 AM
  • Ram N said:

    Great visual treat once again from you Cuckoo ….. especially the G God is always great to click and makes it more interesting by his poses ….

    # 24 October 2008 at 10:24 AM
  • Abhijit said:

    The second last foto is stunning :-)
    where did you go to shoot these pix?
    It’s a lovely foto feature.

    # 24 October 2008 at 1:19 PM
  • thyme said:

    Beautiful pictures. Although I can’t help thinking those deities are a little bit impractical! And it scares me a little that there are so many of the same, like an army of gods. I see many resemblances to the Roman Catholic way of worshipping, with the plastic Maria and Jesus statues painted in bright colours. It is an interesting cultural facet.

    # 24 October 2008 at 3:10 PM
  • Amey said:

    Ahem, now that’s what I call a blog of a different kind ;)

    # 25 October 2008 at 1:26 AM
  • Trotter said:

    Hi Cuckoo! Amazing post! Loved to see those pictures. Brought home a silver G. Looks great!!
    Meanwhile, Blogtrotter just said goodbye to Mykonos 2007!! It shows the famous sunset scene at Little Venice, and the Pelican mascot of the island… ;)
    Hope you enjoy, comment and have a great weekend!

    # 25 October 2008 at 6:18 AM
  • Cuckoo (author) said:

    Ram,
    Thank you very much.
    Yes, the vibrant colours & different poses make me feel happy. When young, we always used to compare different idols with our own theories. I think sub-consciously we still do it. No ?

    I didn’t know you followed this blog of mine ! A pleasant surprise for me. :D

    Abhijit,
    Thank you very much. Coming from you is a privilege. :)

    where did you go to shoot these pix?.. Well, the shots were not taken on a single day. Whenever I saw something on the road & if I had my camera, I took the picture.

    # 26 October 2008 at 9:20 AM
  • Cuckoo (author) said:

    Thyme,
    Welcome to my blog.
    Oh, we have those statues of Maria & Jesus as well. India is rich in culture. :D

    No need to get scared, they are harmless. Once you see them in real, I am sure you’ll fall in love with them.

    Thanks for your visit, keep coming.

    Amey,
    And that’s a different kind of comment coming from you. Seriously, don’t you miss these deities out there ?

    Trotter,
    I have been following your blog and all posts, it’s just that I can not go there to comment every time I see a new post. :)

    If you remember I was the first Indian to find your blog and now you have so many followers. :D

    # 26 October 2008 at 9:33 AM
  • Kiran said:

    fabulous pictures. Great post.

    # 26 October 2008 at 10:49 AM
  • vaggelis vlahos said:

    very beautiful photography and interesting post. thank you for your visit and kind comments

    # 27 October 2008 at 12:43 PM
  • Webradio said:

    Great post, with beautiful photos…

    I’ll come again to read others posts…

    # 27 October 2008 at 1:20 PM
  • malou said:

    Very colorful and beautiful…Great post..

    # 27 October 2008 at 2:23 PM
  • Reader Wil said:

    What colourful photos and interesting information!
    No, you hadn’t commented on my CC post. At least I didn’t see it , but I am glad you came anyway. Have a great week

    # 27 October 2008 at 3:07 PM
  • Shrinky said:

    Oh, what wonderful vibrant colours Cuckoo! I love the images here. There is a joy and a pagentry surrounding eastern worship which is somehow missing in the west. Lovely post hon.

    # 27 October 2008 at 4:45 PM
  • Hilary said:

    Very cool. A colourful treat for the end of my day. Thanks for that. :)

    # 28 October 2008 at 9:50 AM
  • Mridula said:

    Happy Diwali Cuckoo.

    # 28 October 2008 at 2:51 PM
  • ANRB said:

    Happy Diwali Cuckoo!!
    Nice to see colourful pics. Specially the second one from last, I really liked the Sitting Ganeshji pic…

    # 29 October 2008 at 2:32 AM
  • lakshmi said:

    God intoxicated is the best phrase Ive come across to describe this frenzy..beautifully captured. Happy Deepavali

    # 29 October 2008 at 7:16 AM
  • rahi said:

    so where do u gather these pics from. i liked the ganeshji sitting on the bullock cart.

    # 29 October 2008 at 4:21 PM
  • Mark H said:

    The gods do seem powerful in India. They all gave great credibility to Ganesh, the elephant god who seemed to be able to solve all matter of problems.

    # 30 October 2008 at 9:21 AM
  • Indrani said:

    Great post, Cuckoo. So true each line of what you have written and great shots too.

    # 30 October 2008 at 12:46 PM
  • eunice said:

    very interesting photos! Indian culture is so rich! Happy Deepavali!

    Do visit my humour blog http://ieatmushroom.com

    =D

    # 30 October 2008 at 1:32 PM
  • Shantanu said:

    Great pictures! One can see a similar (though different in many way) sight in Kolkata before, during and after Durga Pujas.

    # 30 October 2008 at 3:04 PM
  • wendy said:

    Great post and beautiful photos. I love the different looks/sizes of Ganesh.

    # 30 October 2008 at 7:33 PM
  • Pratik Pandey said:

    nice pics n congrats for moving to new place

    # 30 October 2008 at 7:46 PM
  • Zhu said:

    The pictures are beautiful.

    I have always heard about this “a God for every occasion” and I must say that even as an atheist, it does make more sense to me than having one and only God.

    Maybe I was Indian in a past life! ;-)

    # 31 October 2008 at 8:28 AM
  • Nomadic Matt said:

    Shiva is my favorite indian god!

    # 3 November 2008 at 7:16 AM
  • P.N. Subramanian said:

    Really fantastic, that is what I could say. I need to steal some time to go through your other posts which seem inviting.

    # 5 November 2008 at 9:26 PM
  • Vands said:

    Ganpati is like the cutest God :) … i esp love the leafy pic of Ganeshji.

    # 27 February 2009 at 9:33 PM

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