Ganesha / Ganpati

Today is the last day of Ganpati -- the 10-day festival for Ganesha. It's a particularly important festival in Maharashtra -- especially Mumbai and Pune. Don't even try to move in Mumbai today!

It started on August 29 -- Ganesh Chathurti. Chathurti means that it starts on the 4th day of the lunar month. In Vapi, the first and fifth days of the festival are the most celebrated. There are lots of "pandals" (temporary booths) set up on the street and in apartment blocks. Many people also bring Ganesha into their homes and have special celebrations with family and friends. At the end of the celebration -- whether it's on the second, fifth, or tenth day -- the idol gets immersed in a nearby body of water. In the home, Ganesha is typically 12 to 18 inches high. The larger displays can have a Ganesha that is several feet high and may take a truck to move around.

It's difficult to take a decent picture at night, but this shows a bit of the decorations in the parking area of an apartment block.

This is Sandip's Ganesha before he was fully decorated. It's about 18 inches high. (Photo by Sandip.)

And this is Sandip's Ganesha fully decorated. (Photo by Sandip.)

This is a similar-size Ganesha at Paromitra's house. All the food and flowers are gifts for the god. There's lots of singing and incense during the ceremonies (puja).

Ganesha is an important god in Gujarat -- it's probably the most commonly seen god here, followed by Krishna. In Paro's apartment block, all the doors have this stylized Ganesha on them.