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DURBAN, INDIA, September 28, 2004: The immersion ceremony of a Ganesha icon, taking place for the first time here, went high-tech with a helicopter airlifting it over the Indian Ocean. A professional diver clutched the icon while hundreds of devotees and others watched the ceremony that marks the culmination of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. Rough seas made it difficult for devotees to wade into the ocean for the immersion, so the helicopter carried the icon further out into the sea to avoid it being washed back to the shore. The immersion was organized by two community organizations here, the Gujarati Hindu Sanskruti Kendra and the Saptha Mandir, to conclude a two-week ritual in honor of Ganesha.



“I came here to seek Lord Ganesha’s blessings so that as He goes under the water, He can take my troubles with him,” Pratibha Mistry told IANS. Ganesha is regarded as the remover of obstacles and calamities. Many other Hindus offered prayers for blessings as fascinated onlookers of other religious groups enquired about the ritual. Percy Patel, religious convener for the Kendra, explained that Hindus believe that the Gods emerged from the ocean and should be placed back in the ocean. “It is considered a mark of respect to submerge the icon in the ocean,” Patel explained. Although Ganesh Chathurti prayers have been performed in homes and temples across South Africa since Hindus first arrived here in 1860, there has never been a large-scale public event of immersing an icon, such as those done in India. The organizations intend to make this an annual event.

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