Greetings to all on the occasion of the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi which falls on Sept 1 this year. Seen below is the 4.5 metres tall, 15th C sculpture of Kadalekalu Ganesha at Hampi. The image was taken handheld at ISO 1600.

Kadalekalu Ganesha at Hampi, Karnataka
5D, 24-105L

My first Zeiss lens, the renowned ZE 50mm f/2 Makro Planar, arrived today. It is both a Macro as well as a general purpose lens. In the words of the well-known technical expert, photographer, and Zeiss reviewer Lloyd Chambers, the Zeiss 50mm f/2 Makro Planar offers “…bitingly sharp image rendition, pleasing bokeh, and images that have a strong dimensionality to them.” (detailed review behind a paid subscription wall)

I took my first shot handheld indoors with the lens wide open (f/2). The results look delicious. Shown below is what came out of my default post-processing workflow. The focus point was on the dot inside the circle on Ganesha’s forehead.

Sri Ganesha
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50mm f/2 Makro Planar

Actual pixels
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50mm f/2 Makro Planar

We begin the New Year by invoking Ganesha.

The Ganapati temple in the tiny Goan village of Khandola (also spelled Candola) is important to Goans and to Goan history. The original temple was located on the island of Divar at the site of what is today the cemetery adjoining the Church of Our Lady of Piedade. After it was destroyed by the Portuguese around 1540, the idol was squirreled away to Khandepar in Ponda taluka and later to Narve in Bicholim taluka. It was to endure still more turmoil in the years following before finding a stable home in Khandola sometime around 1750.

In 1969 the ancient idol was retired and a new one installed for active worship. But the plan to inter the old image through the process of visarjan was foiled by the good Lord Himself. During the prasad ritual, He demanded a permanent spot in the garbagriha (sanctum sanctorum) to the left of and 1 foot higher than His new doppelgänger. The Lord sure has a fine sense of humour but apparently He hasn’t yet switched to the metric system.

Now a few words about the photograph. For entry into the inner sacred space, the Khandola temple rules call for a ritual bath and appropriate attire. After some back-and-forth a compromise was struck: I agreed to wear the dhoti but the purificatory cold shower from the temple well at 6 in the morning was waived. And so – balancing my camera and tripod while holding on to a slippery dhoti, I came to photograph the ancient Ganapati-bab of Khandola.

This Ganesha sculpture is suggestive of the Hoysala style and is thought to date back to the 13th century CE.

13th C. Ganesha of Khandola, Goa
5D Mark II, 85L II

Flower lady at Khandola temple
5D Mark II, 85L II

This year the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi falls on August 23. The weight-challenged Mr. G is much loved and admired all over the country. In Goa, the celebration has traditionally symbolized a return to the roots with Goan Hindus repairing to their native villages across the state. Fun, fireworks and lots of delicious high calorie vegetarian food mark the occasion, for Mr. G is the biggest foodie around.

A few selections from the 2007 festivities at our place in Panjim follow.

Ganesha
5D, 24-105L

My nephew Yash and niece Saraswati doing aarti
5D, 24-105L

Traditional meal served on banana leaf
5D, 24-105L

Traditional sweets
5D, 24-105L

Ganapati Bappa prepares to leave
5D, 24-105L

Visarjan: Farewell to Mr. G at the Panjim docks by River Mandovi
5D, 24-105L

Salutations to Ganesha, the Wise One!

Ganesha

Welcome to my Photo Blog. Today’s inaugural post also marks the launch of my online Photo Gallery . This blog will serve as a slate to discuss my photos, experiences in photography, and point to updates in my image portfolio.