Ganeshotsav begins in Maharashtra

The 10-day long Ganeshotsav began in Mumbai and Maharashtra amid chants of 'Ganpati Bappa Morya, Mangal Murti Morya’ and aartis like ‘Sukh Karta Dukh Harta’ on Tuesday.

Long queues of the devotees were seen thronging the Ganesha temples in Mumbai and other parts of the state since early morning. The Siddhi Vinayak temple in Mumbai witnessed huge crowds of devotees who had started reaching there since last night.

The beating of drums and cymbals rented the air as the devotees welcomed Lord Ganesha at their homes.

Earlier the devotees performed the ‘Sthaapna’ (bringing Ganpati home) pooja which was followed by traditional aartis for Lord Ganesha, the son of Lord Shiv and Goddess Parvati.

Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed-pot-bellied God of wisdom, is considered to bring in prosperity and good fortune.

Ganapati stands as a symbol of knowledge, as the lord of the lords as ‘Ganadhipati’ as the remover of obstacles ‘Vighnaharta’.

Ganeshotsav is the biggest festival of Maharashtra – with the golden triangle of Mumbai Metropolitan Region-Pune-Nashik being the epicentre of the celebrations.

In Mumbai, there was festive look at the Lalbaug-cha-Raja at Lalbaug and other places. In Pune also, there was huge gathering at Tulsi Baug Ganpati, Guruji Talim Ganpati, Shreemant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati and other famous Ganesha temples.

In Nagpur also the devotees thronged the Tekdi Ganpati, Adasa Ganesh Mandir, Ashtadashbhuja Ganesh Mandir at Ramtek and Reshambaug Ganpati.

The public celebrations of Ganeshotsav were inspired by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak in 1893 in Pune and Shree Sarvajanik Ganeshutsav Sanstha at Keshavji Naik Chawl at Khadilkar Road in Girgaum in Mumbai. Thereafter it spread to other parts of Mumbai and Pune and elsewhere.

The year 2023 marks the 131st year of public Ganesh festival.

In the entire state, by some estimates, more than 10 lakh idols of Lord Ganesh of various sizes are installed in homes, housing complexes and public places - which are immersed on completion of one-and-a-half-days, three days, five days, seven days and 10 days.