Thr Lord of the Masses

Ganpati Bappa, Moorya!!


Some other facts:

1)Public festival:
In the good old days Ganesh festival was a purely family affair. Ganesh Utsav in Mumbai, as envisioned by Tilak actually intended to use the famed "Ganpati" as a relegious icon as a cover for political activity.Tilak did this so as to cleverly broadcast his political message of freedom for India.

2)Gifting:
Thru time, "gifting" have undergone many changes in these years..

-from jewellery to " diamond studded jewellery"
-from books to "autographed /special edition" books
-from antiques to "antique holder"
-from show pieces to "feng-shui"items

However, Ganesha idols have remained to be a favourite gifting product with people, individuals as well as corporate and across communities. Itis said that the joy of gifting a Ganesha is immense because when you gift a Ganesha idol, you gift good wishes and good fortune along with it.

3) Immersion:

Ganesh Visarjan - the relegious ceremony of immersion of the idol in waterbodies on the concluding day (Anant charturdhashi) of the 10 day function is as popular and auspicious as the "chaturthi" itself. It is also one of the largest televised event in the commercial capital of India. It is believed that the wishes made on this occasion are happily granted by the satiated elephant god! As legend goes, "Ganesha" is considered to be the god of wisdom, prudence, prosperity, and most importantly "Vighna harta"(remover of obstacles). Hence, there are plenty of wishes the vast humanity can seek out for , specially, the traumatised and terror stricken Mumbaikars.

4) Darshan galore:

Mumbai will be buzzing throughout these 10 ddays of celebration, withh business picking up during day & night!. Already known as th ecity that never sleeps, on these days in particular, shops are known to remain open even till 5.30 am to capture the devotees travelling across the city for "darshan". It is widely believed that more the number of idols one takes darshan, more shall be resultant blessings/good luck. Lalbaug ka Raja has been the undesputed crowd puller for decades ow. Special city bus & local train services facilitate this local pilgrimage.

5)Ashtavinayak:

There are 8 idols of Lord Ganesh, which are famous by the name of Vinayak, and they are known as ‘Ashta Vinayak’. All the 8 idols of Lord Ganesha are Swayambhu(evolved by themselves):

1. Vakratunda ( Chintamani)
2. Mahodara (Varadvinayak)
3. Lambodara(Baleshwar)
4. Vignaraj(Vigneshwar)
5. Ekdanta(Siddhivinayak)
6. Gajanana(Mahaganapati)
7. VikataGanapati(Mayureshwar)
8. Dhoomravarna(Girijatmaja)