Pongal :Festival of Abundance

Pongal is a festival celebrated in Tamilnadu to mark the harvest of sugarcane, rice and turmeric and other crops. Thanksgiving is done to the Sun for providing energy for the crops, the rivers and canals for watering the crops and the cattle who helped by ploughing the fields and providing manure. It is also a time for the family and the whole village to get together to celebrate the bonds and connections before getting busy with the next round of activities for the year.

Pongal. literally translated means ‘to boil over’ …to me it signifies abundance - that there is so much that it spills over. The wish or prayer here ,is that the year ahead is filled with abundance of health and wealth, that the cup of joy overflows that one is able to get in touch with the abundance within ourselves and in the world outside.

For me the celebrations were a beckoning to get in touch with the abundance of the universe and the abundance of creativity and compassion within. The universe remains abundant , how much ever we take from it as much as we remain abundant as we shower compassion on the others around us.

Year after year as we harvest the benefits of our hard work, this festival is an opportunity to become aware that our successes would not have been possible without the earth unfailingly giving us the elements that we need to succeed. Space to cultivate our skills and expand our circle of influence, the fire to warm our spirit, victories and challenges to quench our ambition, wind beneath wings to fly high, shade when we needed respite, love, support and companionship of connection so that we feel we belong.

What comes to mind is the beautiful Sanskrit verse from the Upanishads

Om Purnam-Adah Puurnnam-Idam Puurnnaat-Puurnnam-Udacyate |
Puurnnasya Puurnnam-Aadaaya Puurnnam-Eva-Avashissyate ||
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||

Which means 

“The outer universe is complete and infinite,

 The inner universe is complete and infinite

 The whole and infinite manifested from the whole and infinite and  

 When you take away the infinite from the infinite, the whole from the whole

 What is left is still complete/whole /infinite “

Whether it our outer universe or our inner universe. when we manifest and create with compassion …there is no depletion .in fact we continue to remain wholesome as long as we are aware our abundance.

Pongal is a wonderful opportunity for thanking the universe our Bhoomi /Gaia for our existence, for abundance in our lives.

Ganapati Bappa Moriya

My earliest memories of Ganesh Chaturthi are from Mumbai 1970-72 time frame. I was about 4-5 years old and we used to live in the 2^nd floor apartment, C block of the Badhwar Park Railway colony, Mumbai. The balcony from our flat overlooked the sea those days [before reclamation] and lorries of Bappas’ used to be brought here for immersion.

So all day long I would sit at the balcony watching the processions, the frenzied beating of the drums, the interesting dances and the familiar chants of “Ganpati Bappa Moriya Pudhchya Varshi Lavkaryaa"” which I would sometimes join in.  Each of the statues of  Ganpati Bappa was so unique...some very creatively made and some made an impact by their sheer size.

More recently while I was doing some reflection during a self development workshop I had a vision of the Ganpati “visarjan” [immersion] scene all over again and I took it as sign to explore the meaning of the festival, deity and the visargan.

Ganapati signifies the Lord of all the Ganas or all the groups of the universe...the deity who brings order in chaos .Ganesha is the energy which helps things manifest and dissolve in the universe  .He also signifies remover of obstacles especially ignorance which is removed by the light of wisdom  .

When we create a murthy of Ganapati we take great care, sift the clay, use the right amount of water and lovingly carve out the murthy just as Maa Parvati did when she created him from the dirt of her body. The elephant head …full of wisdom and insights was given to him by his father and we pray to him that we be blessed with this wisdom to overcome all obstacles both outside us and within us. We decorate and venerate this idol for a few days and then we bid it adieu in the grandest manner and send it back to Mother earth   .

Ganapati puja @Amaze 2015 

As I explore these meanings and the significance of Ganesha in my life , I experienced  a  letting go of the past and my image as what my parents and elders had created while keeping the essence of their collective wisdom and making way for sculpting new emergent me  . I feel inspired to redefine myself and to learn new skills and hone my old ones and to look at so called obstacles in my life as opportunities for learning and change.

As we create Bappa once again this year with the students  @Amaze, I experience this process once again..of creating with utmost love and care , infusing with wisdom and energy , nurturing  the growth and honing of skills overcoming challenges and actualizing ones goals , feeling the peace and satisfaction of achievement and   letting go of what is not needed or available anymore .

AMEYA the one with boundless potential ..may you be always be alive in our being .