Ganesh Chaturthi

One of the festivals I was looking forward to experiencing while in India was Ganesh Chaturthi. Because I am so close to Mumbai, I was excited that I would get to witness this great celebration. I’ll be honest and admit my initial interest was sparked by Shantaram, but is that so bad? Anyway Ganesh Chaturthi is the Hindu festival of Ganesha, who bestows his presence for all his devotees on earth during the festival. He is the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune, and was declared by Shiva as superior to all the other gods. Shiva is Ganesha’s father and one of the most prominent deities in Hinduism. Artisans make models of Ganesha and sell these two to three months before Ganesh Chaturthi. These are then installed in homes and public places. The public ones are larger and beautifully decorated, with communities competing for the most beautiful and biggest statue. Priests then invoke the statues to life through mantras and then the statues receive offerings. For ten days Ganesha is worshipped, on the eleventh day the public statues are carried through the streets in a procession with singing and dancing. Then they are submerged in water as seeing off Ganesha to his home in Kailash and taking the misfortunes of his devotees with him. The family Ganeshas are taken to the water on the third, fifth, or seventh day depending on the family tradition. It’s a huge event for the communities as well as artists and businesses that depend on the economic success of Ganesh Chaturthi.

There is a lake in the city I work and live in, and one of my co-workers offered to take me on the seventh day to see the processions and the submersions family Ganesha to the lake. She happened to live by the lake and had a motorbike so I hopped on and was excited for the adventure. There is a lot of fanfare for each procession! We were stopped in traffic from about a half mile from her house as the processions took up the whole street and were moving forward at a slow walking pace. On the way she took me to two of the public Ganeshas and they were beautifully and extravagantly decorated. The families themselves did not submerge Ganesha, but there were volunteer divers who would take the small Ganesha to the lake and immerse it. There was also police monitoring the procession route and the area near the lake, I guess because people can get a little rowdy? 

One public Ganesha on the way to my co-worker's house.

The public Ganesha at my co-worker's building.

One of the many processions we encountered. We are driving on the wrong side of the road to bypass it.

Now you see it, now you don't!