Ganesha procession 2013 (by kerouac2)

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Well, yesterday was the annual Ganesha procession in the 10th and 18th arrondissements, and I was irresistably attracted to it as usual. When I looked out of my window relatively early, there were already the distributors of jasmine garlands and of course the sanitation workers preparing for a very busy work shift.

So I went out and found a big crowd gathered at the temple.





The procession route is washed down ahead of time, the participants being barefoot.







The procession comes out of this street first, rue Philippe de Girard.



The balloons are all from mobile phone operators, mostly Lyca, LeBara and Ortel.









There are all sorts of other banners as well.





Most of the restaurants here have outdoor tables only on this day.

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A lot of the shops will be doing a huge amount of business today and are prepared for it.

There are actually fewer piles of coconuts than there used to be. I suspect that they were a victim of their success, since a special dance and ceremony has to be done in front of each and every pile. It seems likely to me that some sort of official or informal rule has been put in place so that there are not too many piles too close to each other.

The procession would not be starting for almost an hour, but the Faubourg Saint Denis was extremely busy in preparation.















Colourful posters advertise other upcoming events.













Even some of the Muslim commerces now celebrate Ganesha.

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For some reason, the Hell's Angels bar on rue Louis Blanc is always closed during this event.









And then the procession began!













There are still plenty of photos to come, but here is the video anyway.

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The metro passes overhead, oblivious to the festivities.













This small hotel-restaurant had very big plans for the day.









There are finally some Ganesha balloons, and not just Spider Man, Dora the Explorer or Sponge Bob Squarepants.









Many people buy the traditional baskets of offerings.





The air is thick with pungent camphor smoke.

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I don't know if the same ladies keep this stuff on their head for 5 hours or if they are relayed by others.















A few times it has been cold and rainy for the event, but generally they are lucky, since the men are dressed like this no matter what.









I cannot identify all of the fruit hanging from the altar.



















A real Frenchman wondered what the world was coming to.

[woody77]

You certainly got deeper into it than we did. The crush where we were at (near the RER Magenta exit at Fauberg St. Denis was crazy. I was torn by wanting to stay with my wife and daughter, get into the crowd to take pictures, and not take space away from people that were there to celebrate.

Where we were at was also where they turned around on Fauberg St. Denis, which made things extra chaotic for the procession. I've got at least a hundred photos to sort through, though.

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It was time to go back to my place. I love it when my street is closed to traffic!



Near the metro going north, there are still a few Hindu owned shops on my street. They will be visited later.







I like it that you can turn a bus stop into a Hindu shrine.



I am lucky enough to live on the route linking the Faubourg Saint Denis zone to the rue Labat zone in the 18th.













They pass my place, and then they pass it again in the other direction an hour later.

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Too young to march this year!



A lot of people decide they have walked enough anyway by now.





Some local anarchists have decided that they can overthrow bourgeois society by sitting in the middle of the intersection.







Back downstairs, I have my other daily mission to attend to...







The "green men" will have cleaned the base of my building of lunch refuse by the time I return.

Tomorrow, there will be no trace that any of this ever happened...

[woody77]

Oddly enough, we happened to be there as well. Thanks for the tip-off, Kerouc.

It was pretty crazy, at least the part of it we saw. We got off the M4 at Gare du Nord, and promptly found that Fauberg-St-Denis was closed to cars, and we could see the decorations up ahead.


20130901-DSC_1840 by aaronwood77, on Flickr

As we headed up St. Denis, we saw some businesses still going about their decorations


20130901-DSC_1841 by aaronwood77, on Flickr


20130901-DSC_1843 by aaronwood77, on Flickr

I loved the brightly colored flower garlands (even if they weren't real flowers)


20130901-DSC_1854 by aaronwood77, on Flickr


20130901-DSC_1853 by aaronwood77, on Flickr


20130901-DSC_1860 by aaronwood77, on Flickr

The procession hadn't quite gotten to us yet, though:


20130901-DSC_1857 by aaronwood77, on Flickr

And the Jasmine garland sellers were out in force. It seems there are two (?) kinds of jasmine used in making these? Some smelled strongly of jasmine, others weren't as pungent (from what we could smell as they walked past). But they were definitely doing a good business.


20130901-DSC_1851 by aaronwood77, on Flickr


20130901-DSC_1863 by aaronwood77, on Flickr


20130901-DSC_1878 by aaronwood77, on Flickr


20130901-DSC_1847 by aaronwood77, on Flickr

What I find interesting is that I see these being sold all over Paris, all summer long. Are they Indian? Or French? or something else entirely?

The teenagers were mostly looking bored, as usual, except that a couple caught me pointing a big camera + lens at them


20130901-DSC_1870 by aaronwood77, on Flickr

But not everyone present seemed to be belong


20130901-DSC_1872 by aaronwood77, on Flickr

And I mean really didn't seem to fit in


20130901-DSC_1877 by aaronwood77, on Flickr

[woody77]

But then the street was cleared of people, because the processor was coming


20130901-DSC_1869 by aaronwood77, on Flickr


20130901-DSC_1868 by aaronwood77, on Flickr

Although it was pretty futile. The procession moves very slowly, so a minute or two later, the crowd had piled back into the street. But finally we see some movement from down the street, and the truck selling offering plates (I think?) came into view


20130901-DSC_1881 by aaronwood77, on Flickr


20130901-DSC_1887 by aaronwood77, on Flickr

And then Ganesha himself (?)


20130901-DSC_1889 by aaronwood77, on Flickr

And the women bearing standards


20130901-DSC_1891 by aaronwood77, on Flickr


20130901-DSC_1909 by aaronwood77, on Flickr


20130901-DSC_1892 by aaronwood77, on Flickr

Noticed that it seems to be getting smoky in that last photo? That's because the flaming bowls of camphor are now here:


20130901-DSC_1893 by aaronwood77, on Flickr


20130901-DSC_1895 by aaronwood77, on Flickr

And as Kerouac pointed out, they look very serious. Much more so than the rest of the procession


20130901-DSC_1896 by aaronwood77, on Flickr

And the heat rose noticeably as they came past


20130901-DSC_1894 by aaronwood77, on Flickr

Following them, are the women with balanced towers of fruit and flowers


20130901-DSC_1902 by aaronwood77, on Flickr


20130901-DSC_1901 by aaronwood77, on Flickr

[Deleted]

Thanks for this report, kerouac. I would love to see this event in Paris sometime. Unfortunately, in Vancouver the Ganesh Chaturthi happens at the Hindu Mandir in Surrey and is a somewhat private community affair, taking place for the most part indoors, so I wouldn't feel comfortable attending. How wonderful that it is such a large, outdoor, neighbourhood affair in Paris!

[woody77]

The peacock feather guys weren't really doing anything but standing around. I think it was too crowded here for them to be doing any sort of dancing or antics.

But the broken feathers hints that more energetic movements had been taking place earlier in the route.


20130901-DSC_1908 by aaronwood77, on Flickr

So I contented myself with photos of the displays that they had on their shoulders


20130901-DSC_1910 by aaronwood77, on Flickr


20130901-DSC_1911 by aaronwood77, on Flickr


20130901-DSC_1913 by aaronwood77, on Flickr


20130901-DSC_1914 by aaronwood77, on Flickr

At this point, the crowd was a crush, so I couldn't really see anything below shoulder (or sometimes even head) height. Which was a bit sad, because the floats drawn by the men and women were next


20130901-DSC_1915 by aaronwood77, on Flickr

But lest you forget that you're in Paris:


20130901-DSC_1919 by aaronwood77, on Flickr

and not all the watchers and participants were Indian, like this American girl (not mine):


20130901-DSC_1920 by aaronwood77, on Flickr

But at that point, my daughter was done, so we headed out of the area, and just in time, too. Wave after wave of people were coming out of the RER Magenta station exit... It seems that as crowded as it was, the main crowds were just arriving...

It was fun, but next time I think I'd be in the shade, with lots of water, and have left the stroller at home. The stroller was just too hard to deal with in the crush of people.

[fumobici]

;D

[lugg]

Wonderful. Thank you K2 and Woody.

[htmb]

This is a really nice report. The pictures, with the brilliant capture of vibrant colors, are absolutely wonderful, but I think your video is one of my favorites so far. Superb!

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Frankly, I quite like the video myself, especially since when one is recording 20 or so little snippets of activity, there is no way of knowing if they will fit harmoniously together in the end. And there is actually only one tiny clip that was moved from its chronological order in an attempt to improve continuity.

[nycgirl]

Great coverage, once again. I love all the vibrant clothes and decorations, and the video really brings the event to life with the music.

And thanks for adding your excellent photos as well, Woody.

[questa]

Woody and K2...I can almost smell the incense, jasmine, oils and bodies from here and hear the crowds with their music and chanting

But the colour...the colour...the colour!

A feast for the eyes...Thank you.

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I practically swoon from the cooking aromas when I walk through the streets there. I am really frustrated because when I make Indian food, it never smells quite that good -- I am clearly missing an ingredient or two, but I don't know which ones!

[tod2]

Another wonderful photo report on this huge festival! Super photos from Kerouac and Woody.
I am saving your video until tomorrow Kerouac so that I have lots of time to view and savor it

Maybe it's not only the missing spices Kerouac but the method they are put together. Maybe you could flatter some of the places where the aromas are fragrant and enticing, into giving you some of their secrets....

[woody77]

Kerouac, I finally got a chance to watch the video. It really captures the event in a way that the pictures don't, especially the dancing of the men with the peacock feathers. I wish I'd been able to see them dancing!

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Yippee, it's Ganesha weekend again! The parade will be on August 31st.