New Delhi: Ganesh Chaturthi is being celebrated across India with great devotion and enthusiasm, marking the birth of Lord Ganesha, the revered Hindu deity associated with wisdom, prosperity, good fortune and the removal of obstacles.
Also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi and Ganesh Utsav, the festival marks the beginning of a ten-day period of religious and cultural celebrations. Devotees install clay idols of Lord Ganesha in their homes as well as in elaborately decorated public pandals, where special prayers and rituals are conducted.
The festival brings together devotion, music, cultural programmes and community celebrations. In several parts of the country, particularly in Maharashtra, large public pandals attract thousands of devotees. People offer prayers, flowers and traditional offerings to Lord Ganesha, seeking blessings for wisdom, prosperity and success.
Grand processions to mark Ganesh Visarjan
The ten-day festivities traditionally culminate in Ganesh Visarjan, the ceremonial immersion of Ganesha idols in water bodies. Devotees carry the idols from their homes and public pandals in colourful and energetic processions.
The processions are accompanied by chants of “Ganapati Bappa Morya,” devotional songs, bhajans, music and dancing. Large crowds gather along procession routes as devotees bid an emotional farewell to Lord Ganesha.
The immersion symbolises the cycle of creation and dissolution. The clay idol, which is installed with devotion at the beginning of the festival, eventually returns to the elements through immersion in water.
For devotees, the farewell is also a prayer for the removal of obstacles and the arrival of peace, prosperity and good fortune. With homes and public spaces filled with prayers and celebrations, Ganesh Chaturthi once again brings communities together in a spirit of faith, devotion and cultural tradition.
