Ganesh Chaturthi

Vakratunda Mahaakaayah
Suryakoti Samaprabha
Nirvighnam Kurume Deva
Sarvakaaryeshu Sarvadaa

This is my second time in Pune during Ganesh Chaturthi. India is a country where one can find hundreds of festivals of all the religions and we all celebrate these together. I believe festivals are made to celebrate with your family, friends, neighbors, with all whom you know. This is the time to make new friends. Some people try to segregate us by talking the difference in the religion, but being a responsible citizen of India, the world’s largest secular country, one should not think on that line. The fact is those people who want to differentiate is very less in numbers and never get success over it.
Festival in India always comes with colors, gorgeousness dresses, delicious foods, eye catching firecrackers etc etc etc and if it is Ganesh Chaturthi in Maharastra then you will feel the heat for ten days that is guaranteed.
Last year I was not aware what exactly happens here during Ganesh Utsava. So on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi I just went to JM Road and FC Road area, and saw couple of huge processions with drummers and dancers. The rhythm of the drums was really good. Now those who don’t know about Ganesh Chaturthi, I can elaborate. On Ganesh Chaturthi people usually takes Lord Ganesha (Idol) to their homes or respective puja committees. After that they keep the idol for ten days and follow the rituals as a part of the worship for the lord Ganesha. On Anant Chaturdashi idols are immersed in the nearest river or pond. During these ten days puja committees perform cultural programs like dance, recitation, singing, drama etc. As I don’t understand Marathi language, I didn’t get anything out of those drama and cultural programs, which quite obviously performed with great dedication and sometime for noble cause also. For me the main attraction is the procession on Ganesh Chaturthi and Anant Chaturdoshi.
Like last year this year also I went to JM Road expecting lot many fun. There I saw one big procession is going slowly towards Deccan. The most gorgeous part of the procession was the drummers. The dancing group was performing with the magical beat of the drums. Dancing steps were very simple, probably anyone can do that but it was the synchronization which made the performance really attractive. They were using some props while dancing and reciting some lines on lord Ganesha with the beat of the drums.
There were Camels, Horses and guess who all the riders were… it was a tiny little brigade of children dressed with typical marathi attire. The most amazing thing about all the processions was the discipline. Without stopping the traffic and creating any chaos they were on their way. Really hats off to those guys who were managing.
After this we headed towards Daghru Sheth. I have Arkadeep and Arindam with me and on the way to Daghru Sheth saw more processions. Surprisingly we found some procession with lady drummers also. The streets were overcrowded and it went to an extreme point when we reached Daghru Sheth. Thousands of people were in a queue to enter in the main temple with the Puja Dali. The temple were decorated with lights and flowers, was looking really awesome. We didn’t dare to enter in the temple, since it required a lot of energy to stand in the queue. We said hello to lord Ganesha just from outside the temple only and came back to home with the memory of an eventful evening. Now I am looking for the Anant Chaturdashi Ceremony.