Ganesh Chaturthi

Practice

The festival celebrates the birth anniversary of Ganesh, also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, Gajamukha and Vighneswara. Son of Parvati, wife of Shiv, Vighneswara is the god of obstacles. Therefore, it is a common Hindu practice to begin anything with an invocation to Ganesh to keep away all obstacles and ensure smooth progress of the project at hand.

The major ceremony is to take out idols of Ganesh in procession and immerse them in water. In Mumbai, the idols are immersed in the sea, in Hyderabad, capital of Andhra Pradesh, the idols are submerged in the Husain Sagar Lake. The festival has a historical importance in that it was used by freedom fighter Balgangadhar Tilak at the turn of the century to mobilise people to defy the colonial government's prohibition of public meetings. The festival has mass participation and Mumbai, India's commercial capital, is virtually closed that day.

The festival is so popular that in Mumbai the preparations begin months in advance. Images of Ganesha are installed and elaborate arrangements are made for lighting and decoration, and celebrations are on for 7-10 days. On the day of Chaturthi, thousands of processions converge on the beaches of Mumbai to immerse the holy idols in the sea. This immersion is accompanied by drum- beats, devotional songs and dancing. It is also forbidden to look at the moon on that day as the moon had laughed at Ganesha when he fell from his vehicle, the rat. With the immersion of the idol amidst the chanting of "Ganesh Maharaj Ki Jai!" and "Ganpati bappa morya" the festival ends with pleas to Ganesha to return the next year.

Time: The fourth of Bhadra (August/September)

· Place: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.