If a Hindu temple reconsecration is a once-in-a-lifetime event, then one taking place in Queens has a rarity that transcends lifetimes (i.e. reincarnation, appropriately enough). That must be why 10,000 people are expected to show up on Thursday at Ganesha Temple in Flushing for the event:

“Those who are blessed to watch this ceremony get enormous and immeasurable amounts of blessings from the lord,” [temple president Dr. Uma] Mysorekar said. “In Hinduism, it is believed it will rejuvenate one’s life.”

On the last day of the ceremony, called the Maha Kumbhabhishekam, the deities’ power will be reinstalled into the stone statues, she said, through a series of rituals. Then they will be placed on new altars. Other highlights include a feast and an elephant – the physical depiction of Hindu god Ganesha – leading a procession of worshipers around the temple.

Rejuvenation and an elephant sighting, courtesy of everyone’s favorite pachyderm-headed diety. Good times.

Even more interesting is what the Hindu priests did to the statues in the first place to “separate their spiritual power from the stone”:

They invoked the gods by chanting mantras and feeding fruit and herb offerings into a fire. Eventually, they believed the power was transferred into bowls of water and then into drawings of the deities.

Unfortunately for me, I can’t swing a trek all the way out the last stop on the 7 train. Best I can do is visit Curry Hill.