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Ganesha Chaturthi
This
is a ten-day festival, dedicated to Lord Ganesha. It is celebrated from the
fourth to the fourteenth day in the month of Bhadrapad
(April/May), it is especially important in Maharashtra and is one of the
cultural highlights of this state.
The
festival begins on the fourth day of Bhadrapad, which is
celebrated as Ganesha Chaturthi in the rest of India. This is believed to be the day Ganesha was born. 
In
Maharashtra, the great festival of Ganesha begins on this day, with his
idol being ceremonially installed. The next ten days are spent in
praying to the god. Before beginning the ten-day rite, people clean or
whitewash their houses. The ceremony begins by placing the image,
usually made of terracotta, in a alter. The worshipper then sips holy water. The priest then performs a
ritual by which the idol is imbued with life; followed by the
traditional puja. This completes the rituals of the first day.
For
the remaining days, the image is worshipped, morning and evening with
simple recitations of the Ganesha Stuti, devotional songs,
offerings of flowers and incense, and lamps. After ten days of ritual
worship, the god returns to his heavenly abode and his image is immersed
in water. The farewell procession is a grand affair, consisting of
musicians, dancers, acrobats, singers, priests, onlookers and numerous
Ganesha idols from a number of houses and temples. All join the
procession to the final destination to a river or the ocean in Mumbai
and other coastal areas. The procession is accompanied by shouts of 'Ganapati
bappa Moraya, Purchya varshi laukariya' or ' beloved Ganesha, Lord
of Moraya, come again early next year'. The immersion marks the end of the ten-day festival. |