Highlights :
- The Ganesh Chaturthi festival is celebrated in the auspicious month of Bhadra, which falls in August or September.
- This year, the festivals would start on September 10 and end on September 21.
- Pranapratishtha, Shhodashopachara, Uttarpuja, and Ganpati Visarjan are the four important rituals.
Who does not remember the scenes in Bollywood movies where the actors and actresses gorge on ladoos, shout “Jai Sree Ganesha” at the top of their lungs, and then obviously carry on with their feasting, leaving us drooling over the visuals and foods? For all those who don’t know this, this festival is called Ganesh Chaturthi, also known as Vinayaka Chaivithi. It is an auspicious festival that is celebrated mostly in the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent. This festival lasts for around 10 days.
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Ganesh Chaturthi festival is celebrated in the auspicious month of Bhadra (Hindu calendar month), which falls between August and September. This day is the day when the elephant-headed Lord Ganesha was born. Lord Ganesha is known for the various domains he holds power on, such as wealth, sciences, knowledge, wisdom, and prosperity. This elephant-headed god has 108 different names.
Hindus all over the world celebrate this festival with joy and bliss. This year the festivals would start on September 10 (Friday) and end on September 21 (Tuesday).
The History Of The Ganesh Chaturthi Festival
The story behind the birth of Lord Ganesha is a topic of speculation by many.
Ganesha was created for the sole purpose of guarding Goddess Parvati while she was taking a bath as her husband God Shiva was not near her. Hence, using the dirt from her body, she created Lord Ganesha.
But Lord Shiva was unaware of this fact, and while he was returning home he saw a young boy guarding the bathhouse. While he was trying to enter the premises, he was blocked by this young man. This angered Lord Shiva, and after a tremendous fight between the two, Lord Shiva cut the boy’s head off using the trident/trishool he carries along with him. After knowing this, Goddess Parvati got enraged. Lord Shiva promised his wife that he and his army would go in search of a head for the boy’s body. Unfortunately, they were not able to find any such human head, and so they got the head of a baby elephant.
Another interpretation is that due to the request of the Devas, Lord Shiva and his wife Parvati created Ganesha to help them fight the demons. Thus, he became a Vighnaharta (averter of obstacles).
Ganesh Chaturthi Importance
Hindus believe that praying to Ganesha would help them remove all the obstacles and thus fulfill all the dreams they have. It frees them from sins and thus leads them to a path of knowledge and wisdom.
According to the scribes found, this festival was celebrated from the time of King Shivaji. During the time of the Indian freedom struggle, this festival changed from a private rich class celebration to a grand public festival where people from all castes join hands and eat, pray, sing together, and celebrate as a united family.
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With an intention of conserving nature, people have switched to more environmentally conscious ways of celebrating this beautiful festival, such as getting Ganesha idols made of natural clay/mitti and using only flowers and natural items for decorating the pandals.
Rituals That Are Done For Celebrating This Festival
Pranapratishtha, Shhodashopachara, Uttarpuja, and Ganpati Visarjan are the four important rituals. Even though this would only be a 10-day long festival, the excitement of this festival would begin days before, with artisans preparing the elephant-headed god’s clay idols, merchants setting up their sweet shops, and the opening of clothing bazaars.
These idols are then kept on the mesmerizing pandals at homes, gathering locations, or temples. Every day this would be decorated with wildflowers, garlands, and lamps. Pranapratishtha is a ritual that is done by a priest to invoke the holy presence of God.
Within this 10 day gap, the idol would be offered 16 different ways of prayers known as Shhodashopachara. This would be followed by people praying and singing along to religious songs, dancing, and lighting fireworks.
The last and final ritual of this Ganesh Chaturthi festival is the Uttarpuja ritual, where the clay idol would be taken from the houses and would be immersed in water, which is the Ganpati Visarjan ritual. Here people would chant praises for their God and bid him farewell until next year.
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