The Hindu population (Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans…) in France is – only - some 120.000, compared to some 900.000 in U.K.. Anyhow, a large part of the 120.000 seemed to have been present during the yearly Ganesh procession which took place in Paris August 29. I have no intention, nor ability, to explain anything about Hinduism and its Gods. What I understand is that Ganesh, or Ganesha, is one of the most popular, son of Shiva… and that he has a partial likeness with an elephant, curved trunk, big ears…. There is a Ganesh Temple in Paris. I already made a post about it last year and if you wish you can read some more details about the Paris population, the religion… there.
The Ganesh Temple has since my last post moved very slightly and is now situated 17 rue Pajol, in the 10th arrondissement, close to where a large part of the Paris Hindus are active. Before watching the procession I made a visit to the new little Temple, actually an old shop.
Of course bare feet are requested in the temple, but obviously also during the march.
The march covers a part of the 10th and 18th arrondissements and lasts some four or five hours. Starting point is close to the Ganesh Temple, at the metro station, Chapelle. I took the photos at the upper parts of Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis, today completely occupied by Indian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan shops and restaurants. This is where all the participants gathered and prepared themselves for the march. (See map at the end of the post.)
There are a lot of coconuts around. Breaking and crushing coconuts is an important part of the Hindu ritual. You will have to look for the symbolism of this elsewhere.
At last, some shots of the people in and around the procession.
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28 comments:
For a second I thought I was at rauf's! :)
It does look like a big part of the Hindu population made it out for the parade. Wow.
More great people pictures. I wonder if anyone lost their shoes? No worries, they can find another pair. ;-)
Peter:
You have captured the spirit of the day, and I am sure Ganesh thanked your spirit for recording this marvelous march.
You could have told us you were in India and not Paris, the place looked transformed for the day.
Very lovely people.
Have a splendid day,
Joanny
What a celebration and being multi-racial here in Singapore, it is very similar to the celebration here in Singapore too.
You did great there Peter :D
superbe fête, les fêtes hindous sont toujours très colorées. Il y avait du monde
une vraie fête à l'indienne, joyeuse et colorée
Love this post as I lived in India for a year and Ganesh is my favourite god.
Leeann x
It's an interesting culture, very different as well.
Léia
Ciao Peter, Ganesh with Gadura the god bird and Hanuman the god monkey, composed the trilogy of the main indian gods and his cult is well documented by your beautiful and interesting photos that allow me to see the representation of folk traditions that I love so much!
The people are very handsome.
What a colorful celebration!
I wonder why we dress dark in the winter and with colors in the summer? It should be other way round...
But in Asia they dress colorful all year round which is superb!
I bought orange etc. clothes from India but can't wear them here - I'm strange enough without Indian outfit... :) (here people stare at you even if this is a huge city)
Heureusement qu'on voit qq immeubles de Paris, sinon rien ne laisse voir que nous sommes dans la capitale. Paris estvraiment une ville cosmopolite.
Très belle fête qui donne des couleurs à la ville.
For a moment, I thought these were pictures from India! :)
Lord Ganesh is among the most worshipped deities in India, in a belief that it is he who plays a part in helping remove obstacles in one's life! Coincidentally, the festival which pays him honour, Ganesh Chathurthi, is just around the corner and is celebrated on Sep 11!
I love that you do a post like this to show the diversity of a city like Paris. Wonderful.
I can't believe I missed this! Your wonderful pictures make me even more bummed...
On ne dirait pas en France! L'ambiance est très touchante! Les gens loin de leur pays d'origine attachent une importance encore plus grande à leur tradition, me semble-t-il.
It looks like the whole population was there.
P,
As always, you bring us sights of Paris we wouldn't think of finding there. I photographed some young Indian dancers and the henna painting of their hands recently at our open air market. It was delight to capture their dancing.
V
Very nice and well exposed photographs of Lord Ganesh.I really liked it.
With regard.
Hemant
so close to where I stayed yet I did not venture inside...
But I have you Peter to take me here!
What could be better?
anything about India and it's always mystical and fascinating.
although, i;ve never attempted to see what's inside, out of respect for ones' religion,
the temples are always interesting.
but the yearly procession isn't common here, thanks for sharing this. ^0^
Peter. i have always believed that tolerance should have limits. All these people living in a different culture could have celebrated their festival at home without making any noise. i feel sad when people flaunt their religion rather than taking an essence of it.
You have definitely captured the essence of a typical Hindu celebration - a riot of colours and smells! I can hear the noise in my mind's ear as well as feel that crowd jostling me around!!
What a stunning post!!
J'aime beaucoup ce reportage ! Avec les détails des visages, les photos de foule, les gros plans sur Ganesh, on s'y croirait.
J'ai souri au premier commentaire de Ruth, j'ai été surprise de celui de Rauf. Je n'aurais pas pensé qu'il aurait été choqué par cette manifestation. Très intéressant..
I loved this post! The number of Hindu people living here is not enough to make such a great event.
What a revelation. I had no idea that so close to Gare du Nord there were so many Hindu people. This is an interesting post Peter. I’d love to have been there.
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