NEW DELHI, Sept 17: Ganesh Chaturthi is a Hindu festival, marking the birthday
of Lord Ganesha. During the festival Lord Ganesha's idol is installed in homes
and worshipped elaborately.
In the current year the 10-day festival ran from September 7 and ended with
the immersion of the idols (Ganapati Visarjan), which were installed at home,
in water bodies on September 17.
The festival begins on the fourth day (chaturthi) of the month of Bhadrapada
(August–September), the sixth month of the Hindu calendar. However, different
States have different calendars.
The Chathurthi celebrations extending to 10 days was begun in Maharashtra during
British period and it had a socio-political ovrertone. Most other States followed
the practice over time.
Ganesh Chaturthi is also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi. In southern States Ganesha
is called Ganapathi. There are 108 different names for him.
The elephant-headed Ganesha is the god of prosperity and wisdom and he is also
worshipped as the destroyer of obstacles. Therefore prayers are offered to him
when one launches something auspicious. Sweets and coconuts are the main offerings.
Ganesh is the son of Shiva and Parvati. As the story goes, Ganesh was created
by Parvati to guard her when Shiva was not at the abode and when Shiva returned
he was prevented entry by Ganesh. An infuriated Shiva cut offf his head. When
Parvati intervened Shiva planted an elephant's head on Ganesha as substitute.