After seeing many strange sights in a varied life, in the evening of our lives we are seldom surprised anymore.
Still, the sight of an idol of Lord Ganesh decked with U.S. dollar bills at the Lakshmi Ganapathi Temple in San Jose (in California) gave us momentary pause.
Why, indeed, would someone want to make a garland of Dollar bills for Lord Ganesh, a favorite God of Hindus worldwide.
We are baffled for an answer.
Is the great Indian tradition of adorning Gods with vadas * (one of our earliest childhood memories is that of a garland of vadas at the Banaswadi Hanuman Temple in Bangalore), coins and garish clothes being extended in the New World to the Almighty Dollar bill. Maybe.
With the mushrooming numbers of Hindu temples in the U.S. competing for visitor patronage, we are sure to witness more strange sights in the months and years ahead.
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