Mangaluru: Ganesh Chaturthi also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi is being celebrated with fervor across the city. Every household in Mangaluru is buzzing with activities.
Ganesh Chaturthi also known as Vinyaka Chaturthi is a Hindu festival celebrated in honour of the elephant-headed god, Ganesh. Ganesh Chatuthi is celebrarted to mark the birth anniversary of Lord Ganesh, son of Lord Shankar and Goddess Parvati. Ganesh is worshiped and blessings are sought for wealth and prosperity.
Ancestral homes, temples and some selected places like halls and streets are the places where the festival is celebrated. Modak or apupa is the main offering to Lord Ganesh. Around 18 types of dishes are offered to the Lord. In most of the houses Ganesh idol is worshiped for one day or 2-3 days. Sometimes even 15 days to one month in some places. The statue or idol is later immersed into a lake, well, sea or temple pond. Bhajans are performed at many places by young and the old coming together.
Ganesh idols are kept in almost all big temples in the city starting from Mangala Devi Temple, Choudeshwari Temple at Jeppu,Ganesh temple at Police Lane, Nehru Maiden and many more places. Taking the large Ganesh statues in a procession in Mumbai is a sight to watch out.
Sarvajanika Ganesh Utsav will be held all across the streets of Mangaluru during Ganesh Chaturthi. The idol will be worshiped for seven days in many streets of Mangaluru. Many cultural programs will be held during these days. On the last day of the Utsav, the idol of lord Ganesha will be taken in a big grand immersion procession. This is famously known as ‘Ganesh Visarjan’. The procession followed by a huge number of devotees and passes through the main roads of the city before the immersion.
The tableau, which is the main attraction of this procession, depicts epic heroes and attracts the crowd. Devotees offer pujas at several points during the course of the procession.
Let us all hope that Ganesh Chaturthi will bring peace and harmony to our place. Let Lord Ganapathi give wisdom to all people to love, respect and forgive one another.
