Ganesh Chaturthi also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi or Vinayagar in Tamil Nadu, is a Hindu festival celebrated on the occasion of the birthday of Lord Ganesha, son of Shiva and Parvati. It is the day Shiva declared his son Ganesha as superior to all the gods. Ganesha is widely worshipped as the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune and traditionally invoked at the beginning of any new venture or at the start of travel.
While celebrated all over India, it is most elaborate in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa. Outside India, it is celebrated widely in Nepal and by Hindus in the United States, Canada, Mauritius, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Burma and Fiji.
Tradition tells us that Lord Ganesha was created by goddess Parvati, consort of Lord Shiva. Parvati created Ganesha out of sandalwood paste that she used for her bath and breathed life into the figure. She then set him to stand guard at her door while she bathed. When Lord Shiva returned Ganesha didn't allow him to enter. Lord Shiva got enraged, severed the head of the child and entered his house. After realizing that he had beheaded his own son, Lord Shiva fixed the head of an elephant in place of Ganesha's head. In this way, Lord Ganesha came to be depicted as the elephant-headed God.
In 1893, Lokmanya Tilak transformed the annual domestic festival into a large, well-organized public event. Tilak recognized the wide appeal of the deity Ganesha as "the god for everybody", and popularized Ganesh Chaturthi as a national festival in order "to bridge the gap between 'Brahmins' and 'non-Brahmins' and find a context in which to build a new grassroots unity between them", and generate nationalistic fervour among people in Maharashtra against the British colonial rule.
The celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi starts with the installation of Ganesh statues in colorfully decorated homes and specially erected temporary mandapas (pandals). The main sweet dish prepared during the festival is the modak. A modak is a dumpling made from rice flour/wheat flour with a stuffing of fresh or dry-grated coconut, jaggery, dry fruits and some other condiments. It is either steam-cooked or fried. Another popular sweet dish is the karanji (karjikai in Kannada) which is similar to the modak in composition and taste but has a semicircular shape.
Ganesha is worshiped for 10 days from Bhadrapada Shudha Chaturthi to Ananta Chaturdashi, 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. In individual homes, the Visarjan/Nimajjanam is also done on 3rd, 5th or 7th day as per the family tradition. People join in this final procession shouting "Ganapati Bappa Morya, Pudhachya Varshi Laukar ya" (O lord Ganesha, come again early next year) in Maharashtra and "Ganesh Maharaj ki Jai" (lord Ganesha, victory is yours) in Andhra Pradesh. After the final offering of coconuts, flowers and camphor is made, people carry the idols to the river to immerse it.
Hope you have been able to discover new insights about this festival to enable you to enjoy along with those who are celebrating it. Wishing you and your family an auspicious and eco-friendly Ganeshotsav.
