Ganesh Chaturthi

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Decorated Ganesha with Om -special

The Ganesh Chaturthi is a Hindu festival that is celebrated around the world, Ganesha is revered .

The statues are sunk on the last day

Ganesha's special day, his “birthday”, is Ganesh Chaturthi , which falls on the fourth day of the Hindu month of Bhadrapad (according to the Hindu lunar calendar, usually September). The day marks the start of a series of major autumn festivals that follow in October and November. Many believers invite a priest into their home to celebrate a church service, a Ganesh Puja .

Particularly important Ganesh Chaturthi but for people in some parts of South India and in the state of Maharashtra in Pune (formerly Poona) and in the city of Mumbai (formerly Bombay). For many Hindus in other parts of India, Ganesha means only a subordinate manifestation, but here for most of them he is the most important representation of God, the main deity. Ganesh Chaturthi is therefore the most important festival of the year for them, not only in the religious area, as in other parts of the country, but also a major social holiday on which people visit each other and wish each other good luck.

Consecrated statues, so-called murtis , are set up in households, in public places, in universities and schools . Sometimes - especially in rural areas - it is still the task of children to make these clay figures with their own hands. The statues remain on the altars for one and a half, five, seven, nine or eleven days and embody the highest - a priest comes every day and celebrates the divine service ( puja ). Then the people celebrate with song and dance, with modern music coming from the loudspeakers as well as religious chants. In the east of India it is the goddess Saraswati who is responsible for school children, students, artists and all intellectual workers. In Maharashtra, the god has this role in his form with the elephant head. Sometimes students draw their own picture on the blackboard and worship him in this way, the younger ones go to school for the first time on this day. On the last day, the statues are passed with jubilation, carried to the water in merry processions and sunk.

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