Lord Ganesha - A Godly Makeover
Today is Ganesh Chaturthi, a festival dedicated to Lord Ganesha, the remover of all obstacles. In most part of India, this festival is celebrated with a community fervour, with each locality having their own version and dedication to the Lord. Apart from being an object of reverence, for me the image of Lord Ganesha is also an object of intrigue. Intrigue, I'd say because here is image of the Lord, which comes in various shapes – from traditional to abstract, and all of them are acceptable. Most Hindus are deeply religious, but never had a problem of this Lord depicted in various forms apart from the traditional form. I have not heard of group of fanatics making a huge hue and cry over the nonconformist depiction of Ganesha. I tried searching the Net on how come a makeover of a popular image of reverence is acceptable to all. Since, I was not able to find any articles on the same, I set my creaky shallow brains to work. Here is what I think the reasons could be -