Ganesh Chaturthi Celebrations: Day 1 | Sneak Peek of Mumbai’s Ganesha | Ganesh Sthapana

17th September, 2015:

It's day 1 of the 11 day much awaited festival of Vinayak Chaturthi or Ganesh Chaturthi. Owing to a holiday for most people in the city, there’s a certain calm all-pervading in the atmosphere.

Except when you step into any of the local Ganesha art shops housing majestic Ganesha idols for the year... that's when the reverie of calm breaks. This is the site booming in action, today. With throngs of devotees eager to host their beloved Friend in their houses for the festival, these shops are busy hubs.

Charming colourful glittering Ganesha idols - eco friendly and chemically painted, small, medium and jumbo sized in varying shapes, avatars and forms - they all sit there, pretty, like obedient students in an assembly line, waiting to be taken to a place, He would call home for the coming 11 days of His divine journey on earth. Captured below are scenes from some of such local shops that I peeped into in a bid to gauge the mood of the city in the wake of this vibrant and greatly loved festival, Ganesh Chaturthi.

Let's say 'Ganpati Bappa Morya' and join our Friend Ganesha in the celebrations!

Day 1 - Ganesh Puja-Sthapana: Scenes from Mumbai streets, captioned in first-person Ganesha:

O dear bhakta of mine... I'm sitting on the shelves of the local art shop -

O dear bhakta of mine... I'm waiting for you!

How do I look? Dust off the dirt and grime, give Me the finishing touches -

Laddoo!!! I'm loving it already!



Covered like a blushing bride...

I'm all set to leave, and arrive -

Amid enthusiastic chants of ‘Ganpati Bappa Morya’ trilling rhythmically into the air to the tune of the tinkering cymbals,

I am carefully, warmly, lovingly carried into respective homes.

Riding home: In hand-drawn carts -

In metered autorickshaws -

In big trucks -

In the dickie back-seat or front-seat of cars -

As I ride past the city of Mumbai, I enjoy watching the sights and soaking in the smells and sounds wondering  what has changed and how it has affected the everyday life of my beloved bhaktas.

Once seated comfortably in my temporary earthly home or canopied tents called pandals, I will get to work. Listening to all your woes, stories, tales and bestowing my precious gift of blessings that I have brought exclusively just for you...

But first, the refreshing arti and prayers, the puja-sthapana...

See you in pandals, very soon!!

Information and Fast Facts related to Ganesh Chaturthi:

- Celebrated in the month of Bhadrapada according to the Hindu calendar. The dates for the festival usually fall between August and September every year and lasts upto 10 days. This year, the festival starts with Ganesh Sthapana on 17th September and ends with Visarjan on 27th September.

- Pooja-Sthapana (worship and life-instillation) of Lord Ganesha is performed during Madhyahna (midday) because the God is believed to be born at that time of the day.