Bubble tea as offering to Ganesha in Bangkok goes viral

In India, it is customary to offer Ganpati Bappa laddoos, modaks, fruits and various sweets, but a video from Bangkok shows a very different picture. In it, bubble tea, also known as boba tea, is being offered to Bappa as prasad, and the video is going viral on social media.

Bangkok content creator Pia Ping shared the video. It shows a large number of bubble tea cups placed outside a Ganesh temple. According to Pia, this is the Ganesh temple outside Bangkok's famous Union Mall, where many devotees offer bubble milk tea to Ganpati Bappa.

Bubble tea is made of tea, milk and various flavours, with chewy tapioca pearls at the bottom. The drink is very popular in Thailand, and some devotees there offer their favourite things to Bappa as naivedya. Pia explained in the video that while offering laddoos or modaks to Ganpati is more common in India, some devotees in Bangkok prefer to offer him bubble tea.

According to Pia, there is an interesting belief behind this. Some devotees believe that if their wish is fulfilled, they should return and offer even more prasad. For instance, if someone offered 3 cups of bubble tea the first time, the next time they may offer 6 cups, and after that up to 12 cups.

In Thailand, Ganpati is also known as Phra Phikanet or Phra Phikanesuan. There, he is worshipped as a god of success, good fortune and the remover of obstacles. Worship of Ganpati is not limited to the Hindu community; many Thai people also worship him with great devotion. Pia's video gained enormous popularity on social media during Ganesh Chaturthi.

In a short time, the video received millions of views, and people reacted to this unique form of devotion in various ways. Many said that the devotees' feelings matter more than the prasad offered to the deity. Meanwhile, some users joked that after eating laddoos and modaks every day, Bappa should sometimes get different flavours of bubble tea too.