India, Sept. 13 -- Passed down through families, this art of shaping wet mud remains a deeply personal, living promise to welcome Bappa home year after year

We all juggle a thousand different things in our busy lives. But right before stepping out for a long journey or starting a massive day, a quick thought of Ganpati just naturally slips into the mind. He remains the steady anchor in the daily chaos. Now, as the season shifts, that familiar prayer takes physical shape in the wet clay. Decades ago, shaping this elephant god from earth was a clever way to unite a fractured society. Today, one has to wonder what drives ordinary folks to sit in cramped, humid tarpaulin tents for months, turning clumps of river dirt into something so intens...