Ganesha Chaturthi

GaneshaChaturthi is the Hindu festival that admires Lord Ganesha. Ganesha Chaturthi is a ten day festival which starts on the fourth day of Hindu calendar month Bhadrapada and typically falls on Gregorian months of August or September.

It is still not found when Ganesha Chaturthi was first observed but the festival has been publicly celebrated in Pune since the Era of Shivaji (1630–1680). After the start of the British Raj, the Ganesha festival lost state patronage and became a private family celebration in Maharashtra until its revival by Indian freedom fighter and social reformer Lokmanya Tilak.

Visarjan Dates

The large statues of Ganesha are put on display to the public and are usually immersed on Anant Chaturdasi that is 11 days after the first day of the Ganesha festival.

However, many people who keep Ganesha in their homes choose to perform the immersion much before this. There are no hard and fast rules as to when it's done. Rather it's up to personal preference. But the immersions do follow a schedule and are only performed on selected days. These are as follows.

• One and half day Ganesh Visarjan on August 26, 2017
• Three day Ganesh Visarjan on August 27, 2017
• Five day Ganesh Visarjan on August 29, 2017
• Seven day Ganesh Visarjan on August 31, 2017
• Gauri Visarjan on August 31, 2017. Gauri idols, commonly taken home and worshiped along with Lord Ganesha in Maharashtra on Gauri Avahan (on August 29, 2017) will be immersed on this day. Goddess Gauri is another name for Goddess Parvati, the mother of Lord Ganesha.
• Anant Chaturdashi is the last and biggest day of Ganesha Visarjan on September 5, 2017.

Celebrations

Public preparations for the festivities begin months in advance. Local Mandapa or Pandal's are usually funded either from donations by local residents or hosted by businesses or community organizations. The making of the Murti in Maharashtra usually begins with "Padya Pooja" or by worshipping the feet of Lord Ganesh. The Murti's are carried to "Pandals" on this day or a day before the festival begins. The pandals have elaborate decoration and lighting.

At home, the festival preparations include purchases such as puja items or accessories few days in advance and book the Ganesha murti as early as possible. The murti is brought home either a day before or on the day of the Ganesha chaturthi itself. Families decorate a small, clean portion of the house with flowers and other colorful items before installing the idol. When the Murti is installed, Murti and its shrine are decorated with flowers and other materials. On the day of the festival, the ceremonial installation of the clay murti is done along with chants of holy mantras and pooja including bhajans during a certain auspicious period of the day.

The major sweet dish during the festival is modak. A modak is a dumpling made from rice or wheat flour, stuffed with grated coconut, jaggery, dried fruits and other condiments and steamed or fried.