How Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated all over India
September is usually a dry and boring month without any festivals which means we don’t get any holidays. So, you may be thinking about coming up with different creative reasons to get permission either from your boss or mom to take leave. The only ray of hope would be Ganesh Chaturthi. But this year unfortunately even Ganesha has also decided to deprive us of the only government holiday possible in the month of September because if it fell literally one day later, then it would have made a lot of us happy. Fikar not! Because next year you are definitely getting a government holiday for sure.
Moving on to the festival itself, sure most of us are waiting to celebrate by chanting “Ganpati Bappa Morya, Mangal Murti Morya” and eating a truckload of sweets and modaks. Come on, how else can we have fun, right? But the scale of celebration can be different across India.
Let’s dive in and find out how people celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi in different parts of India.
Maharashtra
The large scale on which the festival is celebrated here can never be overlooked by anyone. Ganesh Chaturthi is one of the biggest festivals of the year and is celebrated all over Maharashtra with great excitement. Idols of different sizes range from two-storey building heights to the ones that can fit in your palms. The chants can be heard in every nook and corner of the city during the festivities. And if you want to have the best experience then visit Mumbai or Pune during the festival. The famous procession of coordinated ‘dhol-tasha’ events will make you super pumped up.
Karnataka
Here the festival is known as Ganesh Habba and the rituals and customs are totally different compared to the northern states. People do puja and punaskars to Goddess Gauri, mother of Lord Ganesha. Sweets like Modakam, Gojju, and Payasam are made in every household and distributed at temples. Married Women especially offer prayers to Goddess Gauri in hopes of a happy and healthy married life.
Delhi
Delhi doesn’t fall short of the huge celebration that happens in Mumbai. Even here large idols of Lord Ganesha can be found in every street and household. Processions are carried along with people singing, dancing, and reciting chants in some parts of Delhi. In some areas, cultural programs are also organized where people come together to sing, dance, and have fun. Delicious prasads are distributed at the temples all around.
Andhra Pradesh, Telengana
The festival lasts for 10 days with great vigor and fervor. You can witness enormous idols kept under huge pandals where people do and offer their prayers. When the festival is in full swing sweets like undrallu and kudumulu are prepared along with rice porridge as an offering to Ganesha. Of course, you can also get to taste these delicious savories if you plan to visit during the festivities. The tallest idol of Lord Ganesha can be seen in Khairatabad, which goes up to 60 feet in height. And you may find it hard to believe but laddu weighing nearly 5600 kg is prepared as an offering to Lord Ganesha. Crazy isn’t it?
Tamil Nadu
Known as Vinayaka Chaturthi in Tamil Nadu, the festival is celebrated across the state with people performing early morning pujas and punaskars before the Elephant headed Idol in their homes. Most of them also visit temples where the Lord is grandly decorated with beautiful flowers and ornaments by the priests. The best part of it all is when to get the aroma of ‘kozhakattai’, rice flour, and jaggery dumpling which is known as Lord Ganesha’s favorites. Sundal is also a kind of prasadam prepared. Ananta Chaturdashi is the last day of the festival when the Lord’s idol is immersed in the sea ideally (but most times it is any nearby water bodies).
Mention the state you are from and how you celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi. How special is this festival to you and your family? Have you planned it yet? Also, tell us your favourite sweet.
HAPPY GANESH CHATURTHI! Let’s fill our bellies with Ladoos and Kozhakattais!
