Ganesh Chaturthi Festival 2012
Ganesh Chaturthi or "Vinayak Chaturthi" is one of the biggest traditional festivals celebrated by the Hindu community. Is observed during the Hindu month of Bhadrapada, starting shukla chaturthi (fourth day of the new moon). In general, the day falls sometime between August 20 and September 15. The festival lasts 10 days, ending on Ananta Chaturdashi, and is traditionally celebrated as the birthday of Ganesh.
It is believed that Ganesh was born on the fourth day (chaturthi) of the bright fortnight of the Hindu lunar month of Magh. Since then, an association between Ganesh and chaturthi has been implemented. Thus, the festival dedicated to the worship of Lord Ganesha chaturthi this day is named Ganesh Chaturthi.
There is a curiously interesting story about the birth of Ganesha. We think that once Parvati was bathing, she created a human figure from some ointments and balms, gave him life and asked him to guard the door while she bathed. After a long period of meditation on Mount Kailash (abode of the god Shiva), Shiva chose that moment to go to see his sweetheart, but was abruptly stopped by the man-god Parvati had posted at the door. Outraged of this stranger, Shiva cut off his head to discover moments later he had killed Parvati's son! For fear of enraging his wife, Shiva immediately dispatched his ganas (agents) to get him the head of the first living creature they could find. Well, the first living creature happened to be an elephant. Accordance with the instructions, the head was cut off and brought back to Shiva, who placed it on the body of his son Parvati him back to life. This elephant-headed god was welcomed into the family of heaven first Hindu and named Ganesha or Ganapati, which literally means the chief of the ganas, or the attendants of Shiva.
He is worshiped at every festival and before people undertake a journey or embark on a new adventure. You will also carefully guard entrances to temples and homes, coming out of calendars and happily gracing marriages and other such occasions.
It is not known when and how Ganesh Chaturthi was first celebrated. But according to the historian Shri Rajwade the first Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations can be traced back to the reign of dynasties as Satavahana, Rashtrakuta and Chalukya. Historical records reveal that Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations were initiated in Maharashtra by Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaja, the great Maratha ruler, to promote culture and nationalism. There are also references to the history of similar celebrations during Peshwa times. It is believed that Lord Ganapati was the family deity of the Peshwas. After the end of Peshwa rule, Ganesh Chaturthi remained a family affair in Maharashtra from the period of 1818 to 1892.
1857 was a pivotal year for India and more so in the context of Indian freedom. It was the year of the Sepoy Mutiny, an armed rebellion against the British Empire in power by the Indian military. This was the first war that led to India regain its independence of its white rulers. Although unsuccessful, this battle marked the beginning of the struggle for Indian independence. Many speakers, leaders and freedom fighters all over India teamed up to develop a united resistance to British rule. One of these eminent leaders was Bal Gangadhar Tilak, an Indian nationalist, social reformer and freedom fighter. In high esteem by the people of Maharashtra India, in particular, Tilak was commonly called "Lokmanya" or "one who is regarded by the people." It was Tilak, who brought the tradition of Ganesh Chaturthi and reshaped the annual Ganesh festival celebrations private family in a large public event.
The visionary that he was, Tilak aware of the cultural significance of this deity and popularized Ganesha Chaturthi as a national festival "to bridge the gap between Brahmins and non-Brahmins and find an appropriate framework to build a new unit base "nationalist aspirations against the British in Maharashtra. He knew that India could not fight against its leaders until resolve differences in them. Consequently, to unite all social classes Tilak chose Ganesha as a rallying point for protest against British rule in India because of its wide appeal as "the god for Everyman".
It was around 1893, during the infancy of Indian nationalism, that Tilak began to organize the Ganesh Utsav in a social and religious function. He was the first to develop large public images of Ganesha in pavilions and establish the tradition of their immersion on the tenth day. The festival facilitated community participation and involvement in the form of scholarly discourse, dramas, dance performances, poetry readings, concerts, debates, etc. It served as a meeting place for the common people of all castes and communities, at a time when all social and political gatherings were banned by the British Empire for fear of conspiracies hatched against them be. An important festival in the Peshwa era, Ganesha Chaturthi acquired at this time a more organized form all over India largely through the efforts of Lokmanya.
Since then, Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated throughout Maharashtra as well as in other countries with great enthusiasm and community participation. With the independence of India in 1947, it was proclaimed as a national holiday.
Today, Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated in the states of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and many other parts of India. The festival is so popular that the preparations begin months in advance. A few days before the actual worship, houses are cleaned and marquees erected at street corners to accommodate the idols of the Lord. Complex arrangements are made for lighting, decoration, mirrors and flowers. The artisans who make the idols of Ganesh compete with each other to make bigger and better sculptures. Sizes relatively large units vary from 10 meters to 30 meters in height. They are installed in marquees and in homes before the Puja (worship). During the holidays, the Lord is worshiped with great devotion and prayer are performed daily. The residence time of the Lord varies from one place to another, after the worship is over, the statues are carried on decorated floats to be immersed in the sea after one, three, five, seven and ten years. Thousands of processions converge on the beaches to immerse the holy idols in the sea procession and this immersion is accompanied by dances and the sound of exciting drum beats, devotional songs and exploding firecrackers. As the idol is immersed amidst loud chants of "Ganesh Maharaj Ki Jai!" (Hail Lord Ganesh), the festival ends with pleas to God to return next year with chants of "Ganpati Bappa morya, pudcha varshi Laukar ya" (Hail Lord Ganesh, return soon the next year). Tourists from around the world come to witness this wonderful event in the sun kissed beaches of Goa and Mumbai.
While celebrated all over India, Ganesh Chaturthi festivities are most elaborate in states like Maharashtra, Goa (This is the biggest festival for Konkani people all over the world) Gujarat, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and other areas which were former countries of the Maratha Empire. Outside India, it is celebrated in Nepal by Newar.
In the 21st century, with the world quickly turns into a global village, Ganesh Chaturthi is now celebrated around the world, wherever there is a presence of a Hindu community.
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