Ganesh Chaturthi Celebration
Ganesh Chaturthi is one of the major festival in India. It is the birthday of Ganesha who is widely worshipped as the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune. Two to three months prior to Ganesh Chaturthi, artistic clay models of Lord Ganesha are made for sale by specially skilled artisans. They are beautifully decorated & depict Lord Ganesh in various poses. The size of these statues may vary from 3/4 of an inch to over 25 feet.
For 10 days, from Bhadrapad Shudh Chaturthi to the Ananta Chaturdashi, Ganesha is worshipped. On the 11th day, the statue is taken through the streets in a procession accompanied with dancing, singing, and fanfare to be immersed in a river or the sea symbolizing a ritual see-off of the Lord in his journey towards his abode in Kailash while taking away with him the misfortunes of his devotees, this is the ritual known as Ganesh Visarjan.
Public celebrations of the festival are hugely popular, with local communities (mandalas) vying with each other to put up the biggest statue & the best pandal. The festival is also the time for cultural activities like singing and theater performances, orchestra and community activities like free medical checkup, blood donation camps, charity for the poor, etc.
We like to thank Photographers rosemilkinabottle, Erlkonig and David S. Lowry
for sharing their work.
Pillayar chaturthi (or Ganpati as its popularly known in Maharashtra) to me was never a fussy festival. My childhood ritual was that my sister and I would go to the market with my Thatha (grandfather) with a pagala (plank) on the morning of Pillayar chaturthi and buy a clay pullayar with fake red eyes, which always looked angry to me, along with arugampul, erukampu and some random wild flowers garland. A small puja and a good lunch followed. A week later, the pullayar would be immersed in our well in the backyard. That’s it! No big buzz or celebration.
And then I moved to Bombay!
Ganpati is really a huge thing here. When I told people here that I was going to bring a Ganpati home, I was told that it was a huge responsibility. I didn’t understand why. Then I figured that when Maharashtrians brought Ganpati home, someone was awake and attending to Lord for the entire duration that he was at their house! There were big pujas and aartis everyday. Huge pandals with even huger Ganpatis were the most common thing. Just when I thought they had celebrated Ganpati bapa to the maximum, I saw my first Visarjan here.
I was surprised to see everyone out on the streets. And I mean EVERYONE. Old women, little children, teenage boys. Some dancing to random devotional songs and some other Munni Badnaam. But what I was most struck by was that they were there. The kind of kinship and bonding that happened during this one long procession is unrivaled.
Of course, there’s the littering and the pollution. But I’m still awestruck by the entire celebration to notice all of that! rosemilkinabottle
