Ganesh Chaturthi 2019: Know how the Hindu festival is celebrated in and outside Maharashtra

Ganesh Chaturthi 2019: Devotees of Ganesha look forward all year to Ganesh Chaturthi — a 10-day-long festival — during which the idols of Lord Ganesha is brought home or to public pandals and is followed by festivities. This year, the celebrations will begin from 2 September. While it is one of the most important festivals in Maharashtra, celebrations are held across other parts of the country as well.

How the festival is celebrated across India:

Maharashtra:

The festival of Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated with utmost devotion and grandeur in the state. Devotees bring Ganesh idols home, and host the deity for a specific period, ranging from a day-and-a-half to 10 days before immersing it in a water body. The celebrations aren’t just limited to individual households but also take place on the streets where groups of devotees set up huge pandals to house Ganesh idols on the street.

The celebrations also include fairs and exhibitions, classical dance and music performances, poetry recitations, folk dances, theatre and film festivals. The tenth day or visarjan, marks the end of the festivities when the idol is carried by serpentine procession to the nearby water body for its immersion.

Karnataka:

In Karnataka, Ganesh Chaturthi is known as 'Vinayaka Chaturthi', and the festival is celebrated in a slightly different way. It is celebrated by offering prayers to Goddess Gauri-the mother of Lord Ganesha. Married women offer their prayers to Goddess Gauri to please and seek her blessings for a long lasting married life. This festival is celebrated in different temples of Karnataka, where Lord Ganesha is worshipped along with his mother.

Gujarat:

Lord Ganesha is fervently worshipped for about 7-10 days everywhere, whether be in small temples or large pandals. In state capital Ahmedabad, the idols are immersed at river Sabarmati and Kankaria Lake as devotees chant mantras and sing devotional songs.