I wish you all a colorful time with family and friends on Holi.

Diwali, or Deepavali, is the festival of lights. It is also the festival of wealth. Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth is worshiped on Diwali. Among Bengalis, Mother Kali is worshiped during Diwali. The tradition is attributed to a number of occasions.

Greetings on Ganesh Chatruthi.
May Vigneshwara (the remover of obstacles), Ekadanta (the One with the one Tusk), Mahakaya (One with the Huge Body), etc., remove the obstacles to your ventures. I am sure that he will remove the writer’s block that I have. I have made the appropriate invocations to him. Here’s a wonderful prayer to Nadapratithishta, the One who Appreciates and Loves Music.

Below the fold you will find another pretty good song to Ganapati and a list of his 108 names.

Dear blog visitors:
Happy Diwali, Happy Deepavali, Happy Lakshmi Puja, Happy Kali Puja, and Happy Bhai Duj.

Since Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth and prosperity, Diwali is really what the stock market needs.
Here are stories about Bhai Duj (or Bhai Dooj) below the fold. And below that, the details of the Five Days of Diwali.

This morning I went to say farewell to Devi Durga at the Durgamahotsav close to where I live. I took the picture of the protima above. The traditional belief among Bengalis is that Ma Durga along with her children — Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesh and Kartik — comes to visit her parental home for 10 days. Today is the 10th day, Vijay Dashmi, when she goes back to her in-laws. People then visit each other and wish “Shubho Bijoya” after she leaves.
Durga will be back next year, of course. But Durga …

I missed posting on Ganesh Chaturthi this time. I was in Mumbai last Monday. Tuesday evening was when I foolishly decided to make my way to Pune from Mumbai. As a matter of practical importance, I made the proper offerings to Ganesh, the Remover of Obstacles, before I embarked on my journey. After all, Mr Ganesh was around in the vicinity seeing as it was his time for his annual visit. So what happened? Well, I’ll tell you. Shri Ganesh failed miserably in removing obstacles from my path.

{Image above …

Deepavali Greetings! May Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, be a welcome visitor to your home and workplace.

[The Wordpress software is putting a "Japonophile" watermark on the pictures. I will have to figure out how to disable that one.]

Durga Puja Greetings
For Bengalis, this is the biggest festival of the year. Today, the last day of the five-day event, is called “Bijoya Dashimi.” Mother Durga, who had come with her children (Saraswati, Lakshmi, Ganesh, and Kartik) to visit her parents, departs today. For five days her idols had been worshiped and today the idols will be given back to the earth from which they were made.

That image is from a site in Roundwood, Co. Wicklow, Ireland. The caption to it says: “When Hindu Lord Ganesh came to Ireland he decided to go native, as indeed, he had done when he went to China and Japan. He is accompanied by his servant, the rat, the latter playing the bodran and enjoying a pint of Guinness. The sculpture is 6′4″ high and weighs approx. 4 tonnes.”
Have a pint and enjoy Ganesh Chaturthi. More images from the site below the fold.

Today is the first of the five days of Puja, the worship of the goddess Bengalis call Ma Durga. Oct 2nd is Vijaya Dashami, the day the Puja (worship) ends. As children, we are told that Durga comes with her children (Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartik, and Ganesh) to visit her parents. Another story goes that Rama, in his war against Ravana, invoked Durga to help him. He was victorious and the worship of Durga is a celebration of the triumph of good over evil.
Puja for Bengalis is something special. New clothes, …

Asato ma sat gamaya
Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya
Mrityur ma amritam gamaya
Lead me from illusion to the Truth
Lead me from darkness to Light
Lead me from death to Immortality
from the Brihadaranya Upanishad.

Today is Bijoy Dashimi, the final day of the festival we Bengalis call Puja. Ma Durga–Mahishashurmardini–has returned to her abode after defeating the forces of evil. My greetings to you all on this joyous occassion.
Now it is time for me to sit and listen to Raga Durga, sung by Veena Sahasrabuddhe, to mark the end of Puja.