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:-)