Ganesh Chaturthi

Festival season is upon us and my favourite festival, Ganesh Chaturthi, will be soon. Today I went to pottery town with two friends, to have a look at all the Ganesha statues that are made there. These statues are made out of clay and are painted, blinged up and dressed for the occasion and then thrown into water (a lake or the sea) at the end of the festival, to turn into clay again.

Fresh, new Ganeshas. The one on the top left hand corner was the first one as saw that looks like a real elephant. Wonder why it's an African elephant and not an Indian...

Paint, glitter and gems. The brighter the better!

We were followed around by a photographer of the Bangalore Times, so keep an eye out for Tuesday's newspaper!

Some of the more 'over the top' statues.

An explosion of colours

Also important, for any festival: diya's. You fill them with oil/ghee and put a wick in it to light. The potter put a big lump of clay on the wheel and made it into the shape you see on the second picture. With a little instrument he made a nice edge on the diya and then cut it off.

Hard work combined with some black and white Bollywood romance.

                                                          Ready to be sold and worshipped.