Monday 9 September 2013

Welcome Lord Ganesha! - Happy Ganesh Chaturthi!

Today it started - the festival for the beloved Lord Ganesha, the elephant - headed Hindu God. We celebrate His birthday. Families installed statues of Ganesha in their homes, and gigantic statues of Him was set up in neighborhoods. All over Mumbai today there have been processions with people carefully carrying their Ganesha home, - or driving him home. I have seen Ganeshas on anything from rikshaws to huge trucks today, accompanied by crowds of singing, dancing and drumming people. Ganesha has arrived, and he will stay for 1 1/2 or up to ten days! Dear reader, one of the biggest festivals in Mumbai is definitely on!

Ganesha is widely worshiped in India as the God of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune, and is invoked at the beginning of a new venture or at the start of a journey. He is the one you should pray to, to remove any obstacles that are in your way. He is seen as the most important Hindu God, and a God for everybody. During this week, he is worshiped, and then immersed in the sea, a lake or the river at the end of the festival.
Some families will immerse their Ganesha already tomorrow, but the big statues will not be immersed until the tenth day. So, for the next week, the neighborhoods will come to worship Ganesha in large beautifully decorated tents. They will bring flowers, fruit and sweets for offerings. And there will be a lot of celebration!
We had been invited to some good friends today (thank you, our sweethearts Mrudul and Kirti) - and this is what we saw:
This is the big Ganesha statue for the neighborhood. With drums and dancing they are bringing Him to the big tent, where He will be for the next ten days. People will come to worship Him there. 
Took some men to hold on to Him.... 

This is the Ganesha in our friends home. They will have Puja for Him again tonight and then 2 times tomorrow, before they will take Him to Juhu beach to be immersed in the sea. 

Some of the offerings..
They pray for Him bringing wisdom, fortune for the next year, and remove any obstacles which are in their spiritual path. 


Happy Ganesh Chaturthi, dear reader! All the best! Now, I'll check how the elections in Norway is turning out.. From one thing to the other today...! I hope you have had a wonderful day! Ta ta from me:-)  

8 comments:

  1. Beautiful post on the ganesha Chaturthi festival Eli :)
    Lovely pictures, glad that you are having such a good time in Mumbai :)

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    1. Thank you so much for sweet comment Arti:-) I really appreciate it:-)Yes, life in Mumbai is very exciting. really enjoy it:-) Have a good evening:-)

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  2. These are fun times in India. I really miss home especially during these festivals. What a beautfiully written post on Ganesh chaturthi.
    Nice to meet you and you have a lovely blog.

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    1. Thank you for taking time to comment, Asmita, and for your very kind words:-) Really appreciated:-) Yes, the festivals in India are fantastic. I love it:-)

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  3. Wow Eli ur blog is too cool.U r giving a nice insight to India,its heritage,culture n food.I like it..
    thx for stopping by my blog.. I would follow u n know with u more abt my country..

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    1. Thank you so much Smitha for your very kind words:-) It makes me so happy and is very encouraging! Have a wonderful evening:-)

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  4. Omg!gr8 pics of Ganesha chaturthi celebration..Love those exotic India pics.Do visit my blog http://shwethasyummykitchen.blogspot.com/

    Lets stay connected

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    1. Thank you so much Shwetha! I love the festivals in India! Mumbai is going crazy now- music and drumming everywhere:-) Can't wait to check out your blog:-)

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Dear reader, I love comments! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave one:-)