Ganesh Chaturthi

"Vakratunda Mahakaya Suryakoti Samaprabha,
Nirvighnam Kuru Me Deva Sarvakaryeshhu Sarvada"

"O Ganesha - Ganapati, One with a curved trunk, a large body, and a brilliance equal to a crore suns! O God, please make all my undertakings free from obstacles always."

Ganesh Chaturathi is a day of worship of Lord Ganesha or Ganapati. Ganesha or Ganapati is an extremely popular God in India. He is called Vighneshvara or Vighnahartaa, the Lord of and destroyer of obstacles. People mostly worship Him asking for siddhi, success in undertakings, and buddhi, intelligence. He is worshipped before any venture is started. He is also the God of education, knowledge and wisdom, literature, and the fine arts.

Rituals

On this day every household in Maharashtra installs a small clay murti of Ganeshji in their homes. He is offered pujan and prasad until Sud 14 - Anant Chaturthi. This is celebrated with great festivity and fervor and the murti is taken to a river or lake and submerged. A well known chant is chanted during the procession for submersion : Ganpati Bapa Moriya - Farewell O Lord Ganpati!
Gheema ladu choriya - Who avails 'ladus' soaked in ghee
Pudcha varsi laukariya - Return in haste next year.
Bapa Moriya re, Bapa Moriya re - O Lord farewell, O Lord farewell…

In Gujarat and in the Swaminarayan mandirs a clay or plaster of paris murti of Ganesh is installed on Ganesh Chaturthi and worshiped for ten days. The murti is submerged on 'Parivartini' i.e. 'Jal Zilani' Ekadashi. Devotees observe a waterless fast. The traditional prasad offered to Lord Ganeshji are chopped cucumbers and 'ladus' - sweet balls of wheat flour, ghee and sugar.

Five pujas and arti are offered, together with a boat ride after each arti before Ganeshji's 'Visarjan' - submergence.

In this manner Ganesh is a deity of auspiciousness, wisdom and wealth. Ganesh Chaturthi is a festival inspiring devotees to inculcate redemptive virtues in their lives.

The puja of Lord Ganesh or Ganesha on the Ganesha Chaturathi day is to be performed at noon. A clay image of the God, painted beautifully, is installed on a raised platform. After the usual preliminary rituals, the Pranapratishhtha must be done with the appropriate mantras. This Pranapratishhtha is done for the purpose of invoking the presence of Lord Ganesha into the image. This is followed by the worship with sixteen modes of showing honor, known as Shhodashopachara.

Offering of Durva (grass) blades and modaka, a delicacy prepared from rice flour, jaggery, and coconut, is an important part of the Ganesh Chaturathi puja. Ganesha is also offered red flowers, and anointed with a red chandana. The immersion of the image in a body of water is ceremonially performed at the end of the chaturathi vrata.