By Ayesha Fathima Correspanding with Nasheman Weekly resident of kammanahalli Bangalore,
Ganesh Chaturthi also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi or Vinayaka Chavithi is a Hindu festival celebrating the birth of Ganesha it is a ten-day festival, it starts on the fourth day of Hindu Lunisolar calendar month Bhadrapada, which typically falls in the months of August or September of the Gregorian calendar.
The festival is marked with the installation of Ganesha clay idols privately in homes, or publicly on elaborate pandals Observations include chanting of Vedic hymns & Hindu texts such as Ganapati Upanishad, prayers and vrata (fasting) Offerings and prasadam from the daily prayers is distributed from the pandal to the community include sweets such as modaka believed to be a favorite of Lord Ganesha .
Public preparations for the celebrations begin months in advance local Mandapa or Pandal’s are usually funded either from donations by local residents or hosted by businesses or community organizations.
At home, the festival preparation includes purchases such as puja items or accessories few days in advance and booking the ganesha murti as early as a month beforehand (from local artisans). The murti is brought home either a day before or on the day of the ganesh chaturthi families decorate a small, clean portion of the house with flowers and other colourful items before installing the idol.
When the Murti is installed, it & its shrine are decorated with flowers and other materials. On the day of the festival, the ceremonial installation of the clay murti (idol) is done along with chants of holy mantras and pooja including bhajans during a certain auspicious period of the day.
A priest performs Prana Pratishtha to invite Ganesha like a guest this is followed by the 16-step Shodashopachara ritual (Sanskrit: Shodash Upachara process) during which coconut, jaggery, modaks, durva grass and red hibiscus (Jaswand) flowers are offered to the idol. Depending on the region and time zone, the ceremony commences with hymns from the Rigveda, the Ganapati Atharvashirsa, the Upanishads and the Ganesha stotra (prayer) from the Narada Purana are chanted.
In Maharashtra as well as Goa Aartis are performed with friends and family, typically in the morning and evening the festival ends on the tenth day , the idol is then carried in a public procession with music & group chanting, then immersed in a nearby body of water such as a river or ocean.
This year Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations have started with a positive note when it comes to saving water bodies ,
According to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara palike (BBMP) which oversees Ganesh Chaturthi idol immersion activities the number of plaster of Paris ( pop) idols have reduced with people going for clay and Eco friendly idols a senior BBMP official at yediyur lake a major location for immersing idols stated that only 6000 of the 52,009 idols immersed at yediyur lake were made of POP “However we have to wait and see whether the same trend continues for the on coming days ” he added.
Inorder to help in the immersion of idols BBMP has made artificial tanks ( kalyanis) near the city near 22 lakes , lakes with these facilities are yediyur lake , kaikondahalli lake , Doddakenahalli kere, kasavanahalli lake ,Devarbessanahalli lake,muneekokalu Kere , Dorekere, singasandra lake , Herohalli lake, mallathahalli lake , ullala lake, darasarahalli ( chokkasandra lake) , Sankey tank ,ulsoor lake , kogilu lake, jakkur lake ( sampigehalli lake) ,Rachenahalli lake, pallanahalli lake, yelahanka kere, Attur lake, Allasandra lake and doddabomasandra lake.
For the devotees whose residential areas are away from these lakes mobile tankers and artificial tanks have been set up for Ganesha Immersion by BBMP & Karnataka state pollution control board and necessary precautions like encouraging people to opt for Eco friendly Ganesha’s , arificial tanks for immersion of idols and creation of awareness among people to opt for idols made from natural colors which does not pollute water, are taken to ensure a safe Ganesh chathurthi.
