Festival of goddesses is 10-day event Hindus celebrate courage, knowledge and well-being
By SANDY MICKELSON, Messenger staff writer September 26, 2009 As a festival, its concept is simple - think of God and see God in everything. It's a festival of goddesses, and women wear their finest attire. India's Dasara festival is celebrated according to the lunar calendar, so dates change every year, but this year the festival is about to end. It started Sept. 19; Sunday will be the last night in the three sets of three-night celebrations. Monday will be the final day of blessing. "Hindus believe there is only one God, but in different forms," said Sai Mandiramoorthy, whose family is one of four in Fort Dodge who are Hindus from India. The family of Sritharan Seevaratnam lives in Humboldt, and Sahai families live in Webster City. The Hindu temple in Madrid was built by the Sahais, of Webster City. In the Mandiramoorthy home, a gollu - like a shrine - is decorated with items that carry special meaning for the family. There is no rule on how to decorate a gollu, Mandiramoorthy said. "It should give a pleasant appearance. Like, if a place is dirty, you don't feel like going. The same with God - you want to make it pleasant. Basically, if you want to invite God into your heart, you should have purity in your thought. It's not possible to be 100 percent clean in our mind, but cleanliness is next to godliness." Mandiramoorthy's wife, Dr. Ramadevi Sankaran, and his daughter, Saiumamaheswari Saichellappa, put up the gollu, which will be dismantled on Monday. The concept of the festival, Mandiramoorthy said, "is to see God in everything. In this festival, one of the days we pray with all our tools. We think of God, feel God in everything. In India, they don't produce anything on that day, but clean all the machines, inside and out. In a scientific way, it gives you an opportunity to clean it once a year." The festival breaks down nine days into three three-day sets, with celebration mainly at night because people work during the day. The first three days deal with courage, the second three with wealth and the last three, knowledge. The first, Durga pooja, is performed on the first three nights to destroy the impurities of the mind. Durga pooja is the goddess of energy and power. Courage. During the second three nights, Laksmi pooja, the goddess of wealth, is honored. Wealth is not just money - it includes prosperity, healthy and joyful living, said Mandiramoorthy, a reliability engineer at Koch Nitrogen Co. Tonight's celebration is the second day of honoring Saraswati pooja, the goddess of knowledge and wisdom, which includes setting aside the tools of one's trade for her blessing. "It's not just book knowledge," Mandiramoorthy said. "It's spiritual knowledge, dance knowledge, music knowledge. Everything is put in front of God, and we pray with that. Everything is a tool. That's one day the car gets a nice wash." On Monday, the 10th and last day of the festival, everything is offered to God. "Monday we all have to study, we all have to work," Mandiramoorthy said. "No excuses. It's like a new start." Hindus follow the teachings of Sathya Saibaba, Mandiramoorthy said. "He says, 'if you're a Hindu, be a good Hindu. If you're a Christian, be a good Christian.' Love all, serve all." To love all and serve all, the family goes to Des Moines twice a month. On the second Saturday, they serve food to homeless shelter inhabitants who visit Trinity United Methodist Church and, on the fourth Saturday, they play Bingo with residents at an old-age home. "Serving should be a loving service," Mandiramoorthy said. "Basically, it's love, love, love. At Tuesday's celebration at the Mandiramoorthy home, Saiumamaheswari's 17th birthday was celebrated with friends, the Seevaratnam family, of Humboldt. Her lunar birthday was last Sunday, but she will be 17 on this Sunday using the Gregorian calendar. Dr. Ramadevi Sankaran and her daughter wore saris and their finest jewelry to Tuesday's celebration. "In each family they respect women as goddesses, so we have to dress up as if we were goddesses," she said. "We invite all people. I consider them as gods. Even at work, I see the babies - we see God in everybody." Work, she said, is worship. God is seen in everybody, and at the end of education is character. "We give a lot of importance for education," Mandiramoorthy said. "Not just getting an education, like a degree, but at the end of the real education is character. We were taught to always respect your mother. Your mother comes first, then your father, then your teacher and God. You mother brings you into this life, and the father is part of that. The teacher provides everyday teaching. If you respect these three people, then you respect God automatically."
