IT’S not only Jesus and Mary who make appearances on unlikely objects, as a report this week from Malaysia indicates.
A while back, an image of the Hindu elephant god Ganesha (may peanuts be upon him) manifested itself on a tree adjacent to a Chinese restaurant in Taman Sri Selayang, and began attracting a steady stream of devotees and curious onlookers.
Lord Ganesha
The tree then developed into a mini shrine with devotees bringing flower garlands and offerings of milk.
Apparently Lord Ganesha’s divine arboreal appearance had been preceded by a dream in which the god had appeared to the restaurant owner, who then began praying daily to the image on the tree. Others then followed suit.
But then along came a sacrilegious team of enforcement officers from the Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) – Â and one of them proceeded to hack off the image with a parang, much to the shock of the lunchtime crowd.
This, not surprisingly, caused outrage among local Hindus, who staged a protest which led to the suspension of the vandal, identified only as Zaidin.
MPS councillor R Gopalan Krishnan said that no directive had been issued by the council for the removal of the image.
He acted on his own and has accepted responsibility. We have suspended him pending an inquiry. We will forward a report on this matter to state executive councillor Dr Xavier Jayakumar.
Hat tip: Anti.Relon
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
March 13th, 2010 at 9:29 am
It’s the “trunk” of a tree ffs.Where else would you expect Ganesha to turn up!
March 13th, 2010 at 10:58 am
appearing right next to his resteraunt? wow! thats a coincidence. wonder if it’s bringing in any customers (raises eyebrow in a sarcastic manner)
March 13th, 2010 at 11:25 am
Well, makes a change from jesus on toast.
March 13th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
I once passed stool which resembled the virgin Mary clinging to a dirigible. Mr Flight begged me not to flush it, but I refused to tolerate such shit.
March 13th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
It would have been more believable if trunky had manifested outside a bun shop.
March 13th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
That picture is really funny, especially as there are people who actually believe that this god really exists.
March 13th, 2010 at 8:17 pm
I think it’s got nice eyes – I would.
Think what it could do with the trunk if she was real!
March 13th, 2010 at 9:24 pm
Yeah, it’s funny as in two bald men fighting over a comb is funny. But if I were a Hindu in Malaysia and a team from the local authority spontaneously showed up with parangs to hack out something, however ridiculously, revered by the minority Hindu community I’d be concerned.
A bit like that case of the muslim journalists in Indonesia who slipped into a catholic church and spat out the host. There is a context. A frequently bloody context.
Both of these countries have been moving towards marginalising minority religions and making it clear that they exist on sufferance.
I doubt that the guy with the parang was a rationalist making a point. But I’m sure he was making a point.
March 13th, 2010 at 10:41 pm
Don is right. I doubt if the parang would have dared to touch it, had it been a hair or a tooth of his beloved Muhammad that appeared mysteriously next to a dead mullah’s mausoleum.
Having said that, I am reminded of what my late father (a practicing Hindu, but with a healthy sense of skepticism) did to stop a local quarry from blasting away too close to our home for comfort. After several pleas that fell on deaf ears, he went to the local junkyard and purchased a trident shaped piece of iron and brought it home. At night, he sneaked into the quarry, planted it in the ground, and sprinkled it liberally with ash and red powder.
He then called the editor of the local rag (a good friend of his) and had him publish the story of the mysterious appearance of Shiva’s weapon in the quarry. The next day, a crowd of fools gathered around the trident and constructed a makeshift temple around it. The quarry had no choice but to stop the blasting. You can choose to offend the people, but god? Of course, not!
It’s always useful to have a few faithful fools around, I think
March 14th, 2010 at 6:07 am
As the webhead suggests, ganesha is supposed to be male. That artist depiction makes him look like a Reno prostitute. That trunk must make him popular with the girls during oral sex. More than that, elephants have dicks like telephone poles.
NeoWolfe
March 14th, 2010 at 6:05 pm
Uh, I thought Ganesh was a goddess.
March 14th, 2010 at 6:45 pm
Rational Fool, you’re sniggering at the same people who actually helped your father achieve his ulterior motive of stopping the quarry for his own gain?
Obviously the state machinery failed to listen to your late father’s “rational” pleas and some innocent neighbors were conned and their beliefs taken advantage of. You need these ‘ignorant’ religious people for the very survival of your ‘rationalist’ agenda. How ironic is that!
March 14th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
@AK
As I said, “It’s always useful to have a few faithful fools around”!
March 14th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
Lucky Jean,
http://www.thebuddhagarden.com/ganesh.htm Ganesha was a dude.
NeoWolfe
March 15th, 2010 at 12:20 am
RF, yes I did read that statement of yours. I meant to imply that it makes you as bad or probably worse than the very people you deride.