IT is not every day that you come across a Hindu deity on the beach…
But that is what one Islander stumbled across on their dog walk along the south-east coast.
Adrian Rabet was exercising his Alsatian between La Mare slip and Green Island at dawn yesterday when he made the find – a three-foot tall statue of the elephant-headed god Ganesha – soon after low tide.
‘It was pretty much dark and at first I thought it was a lobster pot, and then as I moved closer I feared it might be a dead body,’ he said.
After a closer inspection, he realised the object was a painted sculpture, and a short time later he was able to take pictures as dawn broke.
Having posted the shots on Facebook, the consensus from those responding was that the statue was indeed the Hindu god of beginnings, and may have been immersed in water by worshippers as part of the annual festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, which took place on Tuesday.
The festival is observed as the birthday of Lord Ganesha and celebrated in the Indian states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, as well as by expatriates around the world. Statues are immersed in rivers or oceans as part of the event, although this has been declared unlawful in some parts of India as a result of concerns about pollution.
Mr Rabet was asked if he had moved the statue, but said this had not been realistic as it was too heavy to pick up. He understood that it had been moved later in the morning by someone who had seen his post on social media.
