Magna-Tile Makhar and Play-Doh Ganesh

It’s that time of year again when social media posts are flooded with Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations. I noticed whatsapp profile pictures updated with the God of Wisdom as Indians fervently pray to the Remover of Obstacles for his blessings. Ganesh Chaturthi crept up on us this year, I can hardly believe we are in September already. 2018 has been a challenging year for us and I’ve missed celebrating a few important festivals such as Janmashtami, the birth of Lord Krishna. I did not want to miss my favorite Hindu festival so with little planning, I had to whip an idea for Ganesh Chaturthi. I want my children to learn about their heritage and festivals and sometimes it is a struggle living so far away from home.

One evening I was sitting in the living room playing with Aarini with magna-tiles. We made little cubes, a house, triangle flowers, small tunnels; when it struck me! I could make a makhar (a home, temple and sacred platform for the Ganesh idol to be placed on) with magna-tiles. Sure it would be a colorful, a bit gaudy and rather childish but hey it was a last minute idea and I have a feeling that the Remover of Obstacles Lord Ganesh had something to do with this brain wave. I constructed a small temple-like structure using magna-tiles and tried hard to not have too many clashing colors.

[image error]

I did not want to buy an idol from the Indian store or reuse one from home and since the makhar was so child-like I wanted to complete the look with a homemade play-doh Ganpati. This is not a novel idea, play-doh Ganesh workshops for kids pop- up all over the place around Ganesh Chaturthi festival. I googled some images, went to Target and picked up assorted play-doh colors and made an idol at home. Aarini was unwell that day and at home with me. I had to keep her from squishing my rendition of the idol several times and keep her distracted with other play-doh formations. While I would like to say that I involved Vihaan in constructing the magna-tile temple, the truth is I hid it from him as he would think it’s a game we are playing and want to destroy and rebuild endlessly. Next year maybe Vihaan and Aarini can help construct a lego makhar, the possibilities are endless. Vihaan will be older and he is very much into legos right now.

Nuwan bought beautiful white roses from the store to decorate our Ganpati. We inaugurated Ganesh and did a small aarti, we prayed as a family and asked for Ganpati’s protection and blessings. I followed it up with reciting the Aatharvashirsa, Sanskrit verses to honor Ganesh. The kids were antsy, and it got chaotic so I did my recital alone.

Thanks to the God of Wisdom and Remover of Obstacles, we could continue our family tradition of celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi. Ganpati Bappa, Morya!

[image error]