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Feast of Ganesa

HE temple of Ganesa, The great festival of Ganesa occurs God of Wisdom, a many- towards the end of April. It always atarmed human figure, sit-tracts an immense multitude from every ting cross-legged like a part of India, owing to the popularity of Mohammedan, and wear- the god, who is regarded as the type of ing the head and trunk sagacity, prudence and commercial enterof the sagacious ele- prise, and whose image is conspicuous phant, is magnificently above the doors of houses of business, adorned with ornamentation. The tradi- because his presence is a safeguard tion runs that he was born with a human against danger. With the invocation of head, but having lost it in a desperate Ganesa, all trade contracts and agreecombat, his mother vowed to furnish him ments open; the invocation being rep with the head of the first living creature resented generally by a simple sign, she met. This proved to be an elephant, indicative of the trunk adorning the and in this way Ganesa became pos- god's face. sessed of the thoughtful elephantine It is estimated that in Benares he posbrain. The pillars of his temple are gen- sesses two hundred sanctuaries; and early erally carved to represent the limbs of in the morning, on his fête-day, proces elephants, and their capitals are wrought sions are duly arranged in front of each into huge elephants' heads.

In a velvet palanquin, which a richly