Ganesh Chaturthi Festival
Reason : Birthday of Lord Ganesha (or Gajaanan, Ganapati, Vinayak)
Date: Ganesh Chaturthi in 2010 is on Sat, Sep 11 onwards.
The much awaited ten-day long festival of Ganesh Chaturthi starts in a few days.
Day-one is marked by the sthapana of the Ganesh idol. The preparations for this begin in advance. The place where the idol is to be kept (puja premises) is cleaned and redecorated. The idol is carried from the market with their faces covered with a saffron cloth amidst chanting and sound of cymbals. By the evening, idol is seated in a majestic splendor in puja premises.
Lord Ganesha
The ceremony begins by placing the idol, usually made of terracotta, in the puja premises. The puja begins at the time designated according to calculations based on the Hindu calendar. The priest performs a ritual by which the idol is said to be imbued with life.
Next follows the traditional puja. The worshippers perform pranayama, bow and prostrate before the Ganesh idol and sip holy water. This follows singing of Ganapati aarti and atharvashirdha with the accompaniment of cymbals, bells and rhythmic clapping. The last rite for the day is offering of ‘modak‘ or prasad to the deity with flowers after which the prasad is distributed to the devotees.
Modak is prepared mostly by women at houses. One of the modaks contains salt inside it. It is believed that Lord Ganesh bestows special blessings on the person who gets the salty modak.
At the end of this ten day celebration, the idols of Lord Ganesh will be taken out of the pooja-mandap and immersed in water. This is known as visarjan. A procession is taken out from pooja mandap till the water point which is generally sea or lake available in the area.
It is worth watching the enthusiasm of people singing and dancing all the way during the procession. It’s somewhat akin to a carnival but with a strong religious flavor and of course no liquor is consumed.
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