First of all, let me wish all my Indian friends a very Happy Ganesh Chathurthi. The festival of Ganesh Chathurthi is celebrated all over in India in very high spirits. Not only just India, it is celebrated in many parts of the world with a lot of pompousness. I have always been in love with this festival as I am a devotee of Lord Ganesha. The Lord also known as the Vignaharta (Obstacle remover).

In Mumbai almost in every lane there will be a Ganesha idol kept for a certain number of days, the shed that they make to keep the idols are grandly decorated and then there's loud music which keeps playing throughout the day. I am not in favor of such celebrations. Anyways this year due to Covid situation the government has passed an order that there should be no visitors going for prayers to these places and all of it need to be arranged online. What we typically say in Indian language darshan.

Lord Ganesha is a very famous deity globally, he has been given many names, besides the obstacle remover he is also the Lord of New beginnings. The celebration goes on for a maximum of 11 days and many families also bring Ganesha home and keep him for few days and then immerse the idol into any water body. All over the streets in India you would find Pandals (temporary sheds) where they would bring in the idol of Ganesha and then depending on the convenience will keep for 3,5,7,9 or maximum 11 days and then do the immersion.
This is also one problem because there are 1000s of idols that gets immersed in the Sea and leaves the Sea polluted. Nowadays people are becoming mindful and making ecofriendly idols but still there is some amount of wastage and pollution.

Every year I also bring Lord Ganesha idol at home. The one that I bring is made of paper Mache and then we immerse the idol in a drum of water and later pour out the water in the plants. This year and the previous one we have not been able to do it since this year we have been travelling and last year Covid had set in and there were many restrictions. I was supposed to visit my sister's place in Ahmedabad as she also brings him home, but due to some other commitments that also could not happen. Anyways though I would love to but at the same time I also believe that one holds the faith in the heart which is more important.

The story of Lord Ganesha birth is very fascinating and almost unbelievable, however it holds a far deeper meaning and symbolism.

There is a lot of arrangements that needs to be done for the ceremony and also some sweets to be made for offerings, which later is distributed. I am fondly remembering my previous Ganesha celebrations done at home and missing it also. May be next year I will get to do it again.

This was the celebration 2 years back that we did at home

We had our whole gang of friends and family who had come over for prayers. It was such a wonderful time, full of divine energies.

From the previous years

I normally make all the decorations on my own and never bring anything readymade. It gives me complete satisfaction when I do everything from start to end on my own.
The festival started from yesterday. I have not been able to do it at home, so this year I will go and visit the Temple and offer my prayers there. In Mumbai we have a very famous Ganesha Temple which is called as Siddhivinayak Temple. One of the days I will make a visit there.

This part of the year is always a wonderful time with many festivals coming up back-to-back, so it's time full of divine energies and celebrations with our loved ones.

Thank you for visiting my blog. 👼🏻👼🏻💖💖🌹🌺🌸