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 000000is 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.  This day is very important to all Hindus, who believe that by praying to Ganesha, who is the remover of all obstacles, they will be able to dispel all obstacles from their lives.  

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 000000evening with simple recitations of the Ganesha Stuti, devotional songs, offerings of flowers 000000incense, 000000lamps. After ten days of ritual worship, the god returns to his heavenly abode 000000his image is immersed in water. The farewell procession is a gr000000affair, consisting of musicians, dancers, acrobats, singers, priests, onlookers 000000numerous Ganesha idols from a number of houses 000000temples. All join the procession to the final destination to a river or the ocean in Mumbai 000000other 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.

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