Uttar Pradesh, India: A Baby Girl With A Facial Protrusion Is Being Worshiped As A Goddess
A baby girl in India with a facial protrusion that some say resembles a trunk is being worshiped as a reincarnation of the god Ganesha, Zee News India is reporting.
The baby girl, who has yet to be named, was born Thursday in a village in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh http://t.co/irMaOR1LAC
— Stephen Mwiri (@StephenMwiri) March 30, 2015
The baby girl, who hasn’t yet been given a name, was born last week in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, in the town of Aligarh. The otherwise-healthy baby has a facial deformity between her eyes that, to many believers, resembles an elephant’s trunk. This means that, to some believers, she resembles Ganesha, who is said to have the face of an elephant, her aunt, Rajani, explains.
“My sister-in-law gave birth to a girl at 7:00 a.m. and her face looks exactly like Lord Ganesha. Everybody is saying she is an incarnation of the God. This is why whoever hears about her is coming here to get a glimpse of the baby and are making whatever offerings possible.”
One such worshiper, identified only as Neelam, said that seeing the baby girl has brought her peace.
“I believe this baby is an incarnation of Lord Ganesha and hence I have come here. I feel very peaceful having come here.”
The Daily Mail reports that the baby girl has been nicknamed “Lord Ganpatni,” which means “Ganesha’s Wife.”
According to About Hindusim, Ganesha, who is sometimes depicted as an elephant riding a mouse, is considered one of the five main deities in Hinduism.
“All Hindus worship Ganesha regardless of their sectarian belief. He is both the beginning of the religion and the meeting ground for all Hindus.”
He’s also called “The Lord of Success” and “the destroyer of evils and obstacles.” As such, offerings are given to him in hopes of good luck. The girl is the fourth child of a poor family of laborers. Her father, a vegetable vendor, hopes his daughter’s resemblance to Ganesha will bring the family better luck.
I hope the offerings are made in form of money which can be used for the new born’s surgery.Common people seriously! http://t.co/sdoKCQt5Hf — Pushpa Koneri (@Smile_24x7) March 29, 2015
Doctors say the girl’s facial protrusion is non-life-threatening, and is the result of a gene mutation, probably due to malnutrition or pollution.
[Image courtesy of: Shutterstock/Mukesh Kumar]
