Ganesh Chaturthi is an important Hindu festival celebrated in various parts of India. The festival is an integral part of the culture and tradition of India. Worshipping the Lord Ganesha involves performing several rituals and customs. This festival is mainly celebrated in Maharashtra.
The festival commences with the installation of Ganesha statues. The statues may be installed on podiums as well as homes. One of the rituals of this festival includes not looking at the moon on the first day of the festival. According to religious belief, this is done as the moon laughed at Lord Ganesha when he fell from his rat. Many long processions mark the festival’s last day through the streets. The processions are accompanied by singing and dancing. The procession ultimately leads to the immersion of these statues.
Ganesh Chaturthi History
The celebration began under the rule of the Maratha king, Chhatrapati Shivaji, and expanded among the Peshwas, who revered Lord Ganesha as their deity. However, the Ganesh Chaturti was no longer significant after the Marathas lost control until Bhausaheb Laxman Javale went to the Maratha-ruled city of Gwalior and revived the festival as a local celebration. Lord Ganesha is the subject of the festival commemorating his birth as the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.
Duration of the festival
The festival is celebrated for ten days, once a year, between the months of August and September.
Highlights/Important Rituals of the Festival
The structures and pandals that must hold the Ganesha statue are constructed 15 to 29 days before the festival.
- The idol and all the decorations are purchased on the first day of Ganesh Chaturthi.
- The idol is set up on a lavishly floral-decorated platform. The idol is also presented with jaggery, coconut, durva grass, modaks, and red hibiscus flowers.
- After that, decorations, flowers, and tilaks made of turmeric and kumkum are applied to the idol of Lord Ganesha.
- Mantras and songs from the Vedas and other sacred writings are a part of the Lord’s primary worship.
- For the next ten days, this pooja and aarti must be performed each morning.
- On these days, the villages host a number of cultural events as the families sing and dance.
- The family and the idol are fed special desserts like modaks and other traditional vegetarian foods. Only after the prayer and offerings to the god can the food be eaten.
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