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Devotees throng temples to offer prayers to lord Ganesha
Coimbatore/Tamil
Nadu/Mumbai/Pune: Devotees thronged a temple in
Coimbatore, to offer prayers to Lord Ganesha on the
occasion of 'Ganesh Chaturthi', the ten-day long annual
festival, which began on Wednesday. The festival,
which marks the birth anniversary of lord Ganesha,
is celebrated with great fanfare across the country.
Hundreds of devotees thronged the temple in Coimbatore
today, to offer prayers on the first day of Ganesh
Chaturthi, in front of the idol, which is claimed
by the temple priests to be the biggest in Asia. "Our
Ganesha idol is the biggest in Asia. From early morning,
we had started preparations for the special puja rituals.
We had used four tonnes of flowers; we also anointed
the statue with sandalwood paste. This statue has
attracted thousands of people to the temple," said
Karthikeyan, temple priest. Scores of idols of lord
Ganesha were put up across Chennai, where festivities
kicked off with devotees flocking puja pandals or
makeshift tents to offer prayers to the God. An eco
friendly idol of lord Ganesha, made from grass, fruits
and vegetables attracted devotees with its colourful
splendor. For past some years, there has been emphasis
on eco friendly idols to lessen water pollution as
the idols usually made of plaster-of-Paris, degrade
water quality.
The
famous Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai witnessed serpentine
queues of devotees as people came in large numbers
to offer prayers to the deity. Yesteryear Bollywood
actor Jeetendra also visited the Siddhivinayak temple
to offer prayers on the first day of Ganesh Chaturthi.
"I have come here to offer prayers at the temple on
the occasion," said Jeetendra. In Pune, a huge procession
marked the festivities of Ganesh Chaturthi. A procession
was taken out in the city with a huge idol of lord
Ganesha, decorated with gold, to the accompaniment
of traditional musical instruments. Hindu devotees
celebrate the festival every year by making makeshift
temples at their homes. Legend has it that Hindu Goddess
Parvati, consort of Shiva had created Ganesha from
a perfumed putty-like substance, and made him to stand
outside her abode not to allow anybody in, while she
had a bath. Shiva flew into rage on not being allowed
in by the boy and beheaded him. Soon realizing his
mistake, Shiva brought Ganesha back to life by putting
an elephant head on his shoulders. Thus was created
Ganesha, the lord of wisdom and remover of obstacles
and is worshipped by Hindus at the beginning of every
auspicious occasion.
-Sept 3,
2008
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