Unusual beach find believed to be linked to Hindu festival

Thursday 21 September 2023

One islander's early morning dog walk along the beach led to an unusual discovery – a three-foot tall statue of a Hindu deity.

With daylight in short supply at 06:30 this morning, Adrian Rabet was initially unsure what he had stumbled across as he walked his Alsatian dog between La Mare slip and Green Island.

He said: "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."

Fortunately for Mr Rabet there was no need to call 999 – once he was close to the object he realised it was a painted statue, and a short time later was able to take pictures as dawn broke over the island's south-east coast.

Pictured: The three-foot statue was found at low tide between La Mare slip and Green Island. (Adrian Rabet)

Having posted the shots on Facebook, the consensus was that the statue was Ganesha, the elephant-headed Hindu god of beginnings.

Commenters explained that it 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 as 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.

Pictured: Ganesh Chaturthi is a Hindu festival commemorating the birth of the Hindu deity Ganesha.

Mr Rabet was asked by Facebook users if he had moved the statue, but said this had not be 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.