Ganesha After my birth

There is something about Ganeshotsav that makes our home feel different. For a few days every year, the house comes alive in a way that is difficult to put into words. There are flowers everywhere, the fragrance of incense in the air, the sound of mantras, the warmth of family conversations and, of course, the aroma of festive food coming from the kitchen. For me, Ganeshotsav has never been just a festival. It is a feeling—a feeling of coming home. The tradition goes back to the time of my grandfather and great-grandfather. In those days, a Ganesh idol would be made within the family and brought home. After I was born, our tradition changed, and we began bringing home a **shadu clay Ganesh idol**, made from natural clay. While the way we celebrate may have evolved, our effort to keep the festival close to nature has remained. Our garden becomes an important part of Ganeshotsav. Many of the flowers offered to Lord Ganesha come directly from our own garden—**Sonchafa, Sonatakka, Anant, Jasmine, Durva, Aaghada, Parijat and Hibiscus**. There is something special about picking flowers from the garden and knowing that they will soon become part of the worship. It makes the celebration feel deeply personal and connected to our home. And then there is the food. Ganpati at home is almost incomplete without our traditional festive spread. The kitchen becomes the busiest place in the house, filled with the aromas of **Ukadiche Modak**—steamed rice-flour dumplings filled with coconut and jaggery; **Ladoos**—traditional round Indian sweets; **Shrikhand**—sweetened, strained yogurt flavoured with cardamom and saffron; and **Puran Poli**—a sweet flatbread filled with a delicious mixture of lentils and jaggery. We also prepare **Masale Bhaat**, a fragrant and spicy rice preparation; **Puranache Kadbu**, sweet dumplings filled with a lentil and jaggery mixture; **Katachi Amti**, a tangy and spiced lentil curry; **Talaniche Modak**, deep-fried sweet dumplings filled with coconu

Kind

Story

Place

Kolhapur

Art

Cooking (Citra-śāka-pūpa-bhakṣya-vikāra-kriyā) · Kala 42

Contributed by

Recorded, name withheld by the contributor

Submitted

21 September 2026

Accepted

21 September 2026