Ganesh Chaturthi: Date, History, Significance, and Celebration of the festival all over India.

People in India celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi with a lot of love and enthusiasm. Ganesh Chaturthi festival is also known as Vinayaka Chavithi. This year people celebrate this festival on September 10. This eleven 11-day festival will come to an end on September 21. 

The festival signifies the birth of Lord Ganesh, the god of wisdom and prosperity. It falls in the Bhadrapada month of the Hindu calendar, which falls in August-September. The Devotees of Lord Ganesha or Lord Ganesh marked this festival with much pomp and one can see its real festive in Uttar Pradesh, Gujrat, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Karnataka, and in many other states of India.

Celebration of the festival

To celebrate the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi, devotees of the Lord bring home the idol of Lord Ganesh to worship the god, keep fast, eat delicious food, celebrate with friends and family. Temples all over India are decorated for the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi. Temples also offer prayers and distribute sweets such as Modkas. Modka is believed to be Lord Ganesh’s, favorite sweet.

On the tenth day of the festival, Lord Ganesha's idol is taken in a procession with music, and devotees dance around the idol. It is then brought to a nearby water body like a river or a sea for immersion. Mumbai has nearly 1,50,000 Ganpati idol immersions every year. It is believed that after the clay dissolves, Lord Ganesha returns home to his parents Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.

History

According to Indian mythology, Goddess Parvati created Lord Ganesh by accumulating her body dirt and giving it a human form. She told baby Lord Ganesh to guard the entrance while she took a bath. Lord Shiva was unaware of Ganesha's existence until he paid a visit to his wife Parvati only to be stopped by Lord Ganesha who was protecting her. This made Lord Shiva angry and enraged he severed the child's head.

 

On watching her son lying dead on the floor, Goddess Parvati also lost her calm and began fuming in anger. All the other gods and goddesses requested lord Shiva to calm her. It was then that Lord Shiva attached an elephant's head to the body of Ganesha and revived him. That is why Lord Ganesha is also recognized as Gajanan.

There is another story that gods requested Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati to create a God who could protect them from demons. That is the reason why Lord Ganesha is also known as Vighnaharta. Lord Ganesha has received 108 names and there are so many hymns that have all the names which people sing while offering prayers to him. Lord Ganesha had five wives Pushti, Tushti, Shree, Riddhi, and Siddhi. He has two sons Subh and Labh. He is believed to take away all the troubles of humankind and fulfill their every wish. 

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Writer             - Sahil Madaan

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