Celebrating the Elephant God of New Beginnings: Ganesh Chaturthi 2018

Ganesh Chaturthi is a Hindu festival that is celebrated every year in the honor of the benevolent Lord Ganesh. This religious festival, also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi is a 10-day long nationwide gala.

It typically falls in the month of August or September. This year, the festivities will begin on 13^th September, a Thursday. Clay idols of Lord Ganesh are worshipped in homes. Huge and extravagant idols are also crafted for public ceremonies.

Vedic hymns and the Ganapati Upanishad are read in the form of prayers for the elephant-headed god. Fasts are also an integral part of the rituals carried out during the festival.

Offerings of sweets are presented to the lord. Modakis considered to be the favorite sweet of Ganesh.

At the end of the festival, the idols of Ganesh are immersed in rivers or other water bodies. In Mumbai alone, around 150,000 statues are immersed annually. With the dissolving of the clay idols, Ganesh returns to Shiva and Parvati at Kailash.

Lord Ganesh is venerated as the God of New Beginnings, the Remover of Obstacles and the god of wisdom and intelligence. States such as Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Telengana, Gujrat and Chhattisgarh carry out this festival with immense zeal and enthusiasm.

Private and small celebrations occur in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Apart from India, Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated in Nepal. It is also celebrated in foreign countries like Trinidad, Suriname, Fiji, Mauritius, United States and European countries by Hindus.

This year too, Ganesh Chaturthi2018 shall be celebrated with extreme devotion and dedication to the Lord, as has been done since the era of Shivaji.

We wish everyone a very Happy Ganesh Chaturthi 2018 and hope that the blessings of Lord Ganesh bring fruitful results in the lives of his devotes and worshippers.