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Ganesh festival draws hundreds in Paris

Ranvir Nayar in Paris

More than 10,000 people are expected to turn up at the concluding ceremony of the Ganesh festival, making the elephant-headed god's birthday the most popular Hindu festival in France.

Ever since the ten-day festival began last week, hundreds of devotees have visited the Ganesh temple in the heart of Paris every day.

The grand conclusion of the festival on Sunday will be marked with a rath yatra (chariot procession) that will symbolically bid adieu to the god of good luck.

The procession, an annual event for five years, usually attracts nearly 10,000 people. Organisers expect an even larger turnout this year.

The Ganesh procession largely attracts Tamils from India and Sri Lanka and Gujaratis from India and Madagascar, though there is a fair sprinkling of the French as well.

The procession will weave through the main avenues and boulevards of Paris on Sunday in an event that has become a significant day in the Parisian calendar. It begins at the Sri Manika temple in an area dominated by Indian and Sri Lankan communities.

After going around the main boulevards and avenues of the 18th district, covering nearly 5km, the procession concludes at the temple in the early afternoon.

All along the way, two water trucks precede the chariot, cleaning the streets that Ganesh passes through. Organisers complain that earlier their route used to be much longer. Since last year local authorities have refused permission for a comprehensive procession saying there are not enough policemen to spare.

Indo-Asian News Service

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