Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations

|| Om Ganeshaya Namah ||

|| वक्रतुंडा महाकाय कोटी सुर्य समप्रभः ||

|| निर्विग्नम कुरुमे देव सर्व कर्येशु सर्वदः ||

Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated on the birthday of Lord Ganesh (Ganapati), the god of wisdom and prosperity on the fourth day of the moons bright fortnight, or period from new moon in the lunar month of Bhadrapada. The celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi continue for one, five, seven, or ten days. In the tradition of the right hand path the first day is the most important. In the left hand path tradition the final day is most important.

Ganesha is the god of wisdom and prosperity and is invoked before the beginning of any auspicious work by the Hindus. It is believed that for the fulfillment of one's desires, his blessing is absolutely necessary. According to the mythology, he is the son of Shiva and Parvati, brother of Kartikeya - the general of the gods, Lakshmi - the goddess of wealth and Saraswati-the goddess of learning. There are numerous stories in Hindu mythology, associated with the birth of this elephant-headed god, whose vehicle is the Mooshak vahana or rat and who loves Modaks (droplet shaped Indian sweet). If you are interested in knowing further story on this dig in here and here

Vinayaka Chavithi Pooja @ my home

Ganesh Chaturthi Celebrations

The festival of Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated the states of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and many other parts of India. On this day we sanctify the house and pooja room for Ganesh Puja, prepare naivedyam/ prasadam/food offerings to God Ganesha. I am sharing some of my Ganesh Chaturthi celebration pictures with you all.

Pasupu(Haldi/turmeric) Ganapati and Silver Ganapati Idol

I made 9 varieties of naivedyam this time: Undarallu, Kudumullu, Paalundrallu, Pulihora, Modaks, Payasam, Vada, Chakkari Pongal and Gugullam, all are favorites of Ganapati. I will post the recipes for the below items later in this week.

Peda and Modak/Modakallu, JB helped me in preparing them,
well most of the part he only did, the stirring part!

Kudumullu-Steamed rice flour dumplings with jaggery, coconut stuffing.
A very favorite dish for Sri Ganesh


Uppu Undarallu-salted rice flour dumplings with chana dal, jeera (cumin seeds)

Paalundrallu- rice flour dumplings in coconut, milk and sesame seeds sauce


Semya Payasam-vermicelli milk pudding


Chakkari Pongal/ Paramannam-long grain rice pudding


Pulihora- Tamarind-Sesame flavored rice


Chenagapappu Vadalu-bengal gram patties


Guggullam-sauted chick peas

Afterwards we made puja, JB(my dh) read the story and we chanted Ganesh Ashtotaram (108 names of Ganesha) and slokhas, performed Aarthi in the end. We kept both our books for puja which you can see below.

In the evening we again performed aarthi and did visarjan/nirmarjana/immersion of Lord Ganesha's Idol. I love this festival and celebrate it very much and every yearI eagerly wait for this. Back at my mother's place in Mumbai we had a blast during those 11 days for the festival. Oh Man! I so much miss this event.

During evening arathi

You can find more on Bombay Ganesh festival from here, here, here and on mid-day. A photo of an artist giving touch-ups to the idol. With the immersion of the idol amidst the chanting of "Ganesh Maharaj Ki Jai!" (Hail Lord Ganesh). The festival ends with pleas to Ganesha to return the next year with chants of "Ganpati bappa morya, pudcha varshi laukar ya" (Hail Lord Ganesh, return again soon next year.

Info courtesy: Tajonline