Description

Ganesh Chaturthi, also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi or Vinayaka Chavithi or Vinayagar Chaturthi, is a Hindu festival celebrating the birthday of Hindu deity Ganesh. The festival is marked with the installation of Ganesha's murtis privately in homes and publicly on elaborate pandals. Observances include chanting of Vedic hymns and Hindu texts, such as prayers and vrata (fasting). Offerings and prasada from the daily prayers, that are distributed from the pandal to the community, include sweets such as modak as it is believed to be a favourite of Ganesha. The festival ends on the tenth day after start, when the murti is carried in a public procession with music and group chanting, then immersed in a nearby body of water such as a river or sea, called visarjana on the day of Ananta Chaturdashi. In Mumbai alone, around 150,000 murtis are immersed annually. It is a state festival of Indian state Maharashtra.