Ganesh Chaturthi

A festival of processions, immersions & fanfare

The Ganesh Utsav or festival features in numerous ‘top 10 festivals of India’ lists, and rightfully so. Celebrated more in the southern states of India, with the grandest processions and revelry in the state of Maharashtra. Ganesh Utsav is celebrated in honour of Lord Ganesh, the elephant-headed god of the Indian pantheon, worshipped at the start of any undertaking and is considered to be a ‘remover of obstacles’. Traditionally, the idols are made of soft, clayey river mud and were welcomed into the house for a period of 1 to 10 days (depending on the rituals followed by generations of each family), before being led in a procession to be immersed in a river or the sea.

If you are travelling through India during the festival, be sure to witness the immersion ceremonies by riversides or on seasides. Cities across India, explode into a frenzy of colour and music, with women drawing huge designs in white sand, flower petals and colour along streets through which the processions pass and traditional instruments like the dhol, tasha, lezim providing a merry beat.

As with all Indian festivities, sweetmeats are are important part of the ceremony. During the Ganesh Utsav, don’t miss out on the ‘modaks’ – steamed dumpling made of rice flour filled with a mixture of gram flour, jaggery and coconut, served with oodles of ‘ghee’! Little wonder it is considered to be Lord Ganesh’s favourite sweetmeat.

Image credits: Prashant Patil, CC-BY