Devotion in unison

Set up as a replica of the Hawa Mahal,a beautiful palace in Jaipur,the Dagduseth Halwai Trust Mandal located just a little ahead of the Dagduseth Halwai temple on Laxmi Road seemed almost ethereal as it shines like a structure fallen straight out of the sky. In the darkness that falls before dawn,at 4.30 am,groups of women gathered at the pandal. What first started off as the gathering of a crowd became a sea of faces that stretched from the Dagdu Seth Halwai Mandal to Bajirao Road. In about an hour and a half,by approximately 6 am,more than 21000 women had gathered in that stretch of the road in front of the mandal for the unique mass recital of ancient hymn – Atharvashirsha Pathan. Most of the women wore the traditional Maharashtrain navvari paithani,a nine yard sari which is pleated and tucked behind the waist,and put on their dressiest ornaments like the nath (a studded nose ring),bangles and more. One could see nothing but excitement on every face in the crowd.

The sight of colourful nauvari-clad women gathering together and indulging in devotion at such a large scale was breathtaking. It occurs to any spectator,like us,who is not familiar with this tradition that it is almost a show of solidarity and a celebration of womanhood as women of all age groups— children,students,young mothers and their infant daughters,middle-aged and the senior women citizens,gather together to do something in unity. This surely is one of the sights to look forward to during the Ganesh Chaturthi every year. We notice that despite the great strength of the attendance,the religious event is perfectly organised with no rushing or pushing,which is rather expected at any event of this magnitude,takes place.

At 6 am,the recitation of the Atharvashirsha shloka began with all the women chanting in chorus. It is believed that the shloka was written by a devotee named Atharva. Legend has it that Lord Ganesh had appeared before him and blessed him and the shloka is a description the deity in all his glory. The Atharvashirsha is generally recited by men,but it is on this day,in the early hours of the second day of Ganesh Chathurthi,that all the women of the city who have faith in this deity,gather together to chant this shloka in unanimity. This event is aptly called Atharvashirsha Pathan,because Atharvashirsha is the shloka and Pathan means recital.

After performing the Atharvashirsha Pathan eleven times,the women proceed to chanting the thousand names of Lord Ganesh and follow it with singing various bhajans in worship of the deity. The aarti was performed on the stage of the pandal at 7 am. After much devotional indulgence,the women are asked to form a line and collect Prasad from the counter in at the mandal. Handfuls of peda were distributed to all the devotees as they stepped up to the mandal and took darshan.