Hyderabad: Ganesh Chaturthi, also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi, is an auspicious Hindu festival that is celebrated for a span of 10 days every year. The festival that is celebrated in the Hindu calendar month of Bhadra, marks the birth of Ganesha, the god of prosperity and wisdom.
The festival is marked with the installation of Ganesha's idols placed on raised platforms in homes and publicly on elaborately decorated 'pandals' (temporary stages). The worship begins with the 'pranapratishtha', a ritual to invoke life in the idol, followed by 'shhodashopachara', or the 16 ways of paying tribute. Amid the chanting of Vedic hymns from Hindu texts like the Ganesh Upanishad, the idols are anointed with red sandalwood paste and yellow and red flowers. Offerings and 'prasad' that are offered to the deity include the 'modaka', a sweet considered to be a favourite of Ganesha.
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On the last day of the festival, a ritual called 'Uttarpuja' is performed which is about bidding farewell to Ganesha with deep respect, followed by Ganpati Visarjan, a ceremony wherein the statue is immersed in water. The idols are carried to local rivers or seas in public processions with music, dance, and group chanting. People generally chant in the Marathi language 'Ganapati Bappa Morya, Purchya Varshi Laukariya' meaning 'Goodbye Lord, please come back next year'.
Ganesh Chaturthi is observed throughout the country, more so, in the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Goa and by the Hindu diaspora in Nepal, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, Fiji, Mauritius, South Africa, United States, Europe and in some parts of the Caribbean.
