This is one of the most popular festivals in the Country. Ganpati is after all a popular and beloved God. His blessings are invoked at most religious ceremonies as He is the one who can remove all obstacles to success. He is the giver of fortune and can help to avoid natural calamities.
Ganesh Utsav is a spectacular festival, honoring Lord Ganesha. The elephant-headed god is worshiped for 10 days from Bhadrapada Shudha Chaturthi to the Ananta Chaturdashi. It is celebrated all over India, but the maximum grandeur is witnessed in Mumbai and across Maharashtra.
During the festival days, the Lord is worshipped with great devotion and prayer services are performed daily. The duration of the Lord's stay varies from place to place; once the worship is complete, the statues are carried on decorated floats to be immersed in the sea after one, three, five, seven and ten days. Thousands of processions converge on the beaches to immerse the holy idols in the sea. This procession and immersion is accompanied with dancing and the sound of exciting drum-beats, throwing gulal at one another, devotional songs and exploding firecrackers. As the idol is immersed amidst loud chants of "Ganesh Maharaj Ki Jai!" (Hail Lord Ganesh), the festival comes to an end with pleas to the Lord to return the next year with chants of "Ganpati bappa morya, pudcha varshi laukar ya" (Hail Lord Ganesh, return again soon next year).
It was Lokmanya Tilak who popularized the festival during the freedom movement and made it a community celebration that brought together people from all classes and creeds to strengthen the feeling of oneness.
Colorfully decorated Idols of lord Ganesha are installed both at homes and in Sarvajanik Ganesh Pandals. The occasion becomes very lively and enthusiastic with the devotional songs, dances and drum beats being a part of the rituals observed by the devotees of Lord Ganesha, as part of the festivities.
Beyond the movies, Bollywood has also been closely associated with festivities of Ganesh Chaturthi. Celebrities who idol of the bring home the elephant god include Salman Khan, Jeetendra, Nana Patekar, Rani Mukherjee, Suniel Shetty, Jackie Shroff, Akshay Kumar, Govinda, Shilpa Shetty, Raveena Tandon and Shreyas Talpade among others. Whether they install the idol at home or not, the entire Film fraternity enthusiastically participates in the festivities in their own way.
Women in India love to deck up for their celebrations in fully traditional wear. From Maharashtrian style sarees to even Anarkalis now, it's an occasion to show your ethnic side in all its splendor. Heavy jewelry and make up usually completes the ethnic shringar for enthusiastic devotees. Here are a few Outfit ideas to step up your fashion game for this auspicious festival. You can shop the very festive GANESH CHATURTHI SPECIAL COLLECTION resplendent with glorious bright sarees, beautiful anarkalis and traditional suits such as these with us-
1. Suits and Anarkalis for the more contemporary women.
2. Sarees for the perfect ethnic divas
Bring home the VINAYAK this season with full devotion and here's wishing all our readers a very prosperous and fulfilling GANESHA CHATURTHI.
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"Ganpati Bappa Moriya!!"
