Ganesh Chaturthi 2022 : Date, Time, Celebration | Eco-Friendly

Ganesh Chaturthi, the birthday of Lord Ganesha, is one of the most famous and biggest festival for Hindus. Also called as Vinayaka Chaturthi, the festival is a 10 days celebration for the worship of beloved elephant god who have the ability to remove obstacles from life. Lord Ganesha is son of most powerful god Lord Shiva and goddess Mata Parvati. Among Hindus, Lord Ganesha is worshipped first in every occasion and festival before all the other Gods.

DATE AND TIME OF GANESH CHATURTHI 2022 IN INDIA

Ganesh Chaturthi celebration will start from 31 August 2022.
Start Day : 31 August 2022, Ganesh Chaturthi (Visthapana)
End Day : 9 September 2022, Anant Chaturdashi (Visarjana)
Puja Time : Ganesh Chaturthi Tithi will begin on August 30, 2022 at 03:33 PM and will end on August 31, 2022 at 03:22PM
Pune – 11:20 AM to 01:50 PM
New Delhi – 11:05 AM to 01:38 PM
Chennai – 10:55 AM to 01:24 PM
Jaipur – 11:11 AM to 01:43 PM
Hyderabad – 11:01 AM to 01:31 PM
Gurgaon – 11:05 AM to 01:39 PM
Chandigarh – 11:06 AM to 01:40 PM
Kolkata – 10:21 AM to 12:52 PM
Mumbai – 11:24 AM to 01:54 PM
Bengaluru – 11:06 AM to 01:34 PM
Ahmedabad – 11:24 AM to 01:56 PM
Noida – 11:04 AM to 01:37 PM

SIGNIFICANCE OF GANESH CHATURTHI

According to Indian Mythology Ganesh Chaturthi is the day of birth of Lord Ganesha. Lord Ganesha is known as the god of wisdom, prosperity, good fortune and obstacles from life (Vighnaharta). The day is observed on chaturthi date of Shukla Paksha of Bhadrapada Month in Hindu calendar which is around August-September Month. The start and end day of Ganesh Chaturthi signifies the festival of New Beginnings and the End of Obstacles & Bad Omen from the house It is believed that with the start of Ganesh Chaturthi puja, good fortunes come into life & home and with the Visarjana i.e. on the end day, devotees believed that lord Ganesha takes the bad fortunes along with him.

HISTORY OF GANESH CHATURTHI

According to Hindu mythology, Lord Ganesha is creation by goddess Parvati. Once Lord Shiva was gone for long time for meditation, so the goddess created a child from the turmeric paste she used to bath from and give life to it. This day is celebrated as Ganesh Chaturthi. Another story is that once the father of Lord Ganesha, Lord Shiva, cut is head in anger and later on replaced it with elephant head and gave him a new life. Another less popular story is that Ganesha was the conscious creation of Lord Shiva and goddess Parvati to bring good omen of wealth and wisdom on earth.

It is believed that first time the Ganesh chaturthi was celebrated between 271 B.C. and 1190 A.D. when the Satavahana, Rashtrakuta, and the Chalukya dynasties ruled. Publicly the festival was celebrated in Pune during the era of King Shivaji and later many rulers and kings celebrated this festival publicly. From then the festival gained the popularity across the entire India and other countries as well.

FACTS ABOUT LORD GANESHA

The word “Ganesh” is Sanskrit word, in which ‘Gana’ means a group and ‘isha’ means defines master or ruler. The elephant god is blessed to be worshipped first among all the gods and goddess in every puja, festival, marriage and other occasions. Lord Ganesha was blessed that without worshipping him first, there shall not be any benefit and blessing on the devotees. Lord Ganesha has mouse as his ride. It is said that when he got the elephant head and a new life with it, every god and goddess blessed him with their powers and one of their Astras (weapons).

It is believed that Lord Ganesha has great knowledge and wisdom, and is known to write the story of greatest war ever Mahabharata. He is also god who removes fear from the minds and helps to come out of every obstacles. There are total 108 different names of Lord Ganesha, some of his other names are Ganpati (leader of Ganas, followers of Lord Shiva) Gajanan (elephant head), Vighnaharta (rescuer from obstacles), Vinayaka (destroyer of evil), Ekdanta (one tooth) Lambodra (big stomach) etc.

GANESH CHATURTHI PUJA, BHOG AND FAST

The puja of Lord Ganesha is very special as he is the Lord who is worshiped first among all the Lords. On very first day the ritual of installing the idol is performed also called as Pran Pratishtha. This is performed to invoke the power of lord into the idol which is followed by a ritual known as “Shodashopachara Puja”. The ritual is performed at time around midday, the time Lord Ganesha is believed to have been born. The puja is performed by Aartis of the Lord, various offerings to the idol including sweets, flowers and coconuts. Vedic Hymns of religious texts like Ganesha Upnishada are chanted to please the Lord. The idols are rubbed with red sandalwood paste and yellow & red flowers.

On every puja day, the idol is offered Bhog which is sweets and jiggery, which is then distributed to the devotees as Prashad. The main bhog of Ganesha is of 21 Modaks (sweet dumplings) which is considered as the Lords’ favorite food. It is said that when Lord was born, he always used to feel hungry, so his mother Mata Parvati made special dish as sweet dumplings and named them Modaks, which then satisfied his hunger and also became his favorite dish.

Devotees keep a strict fast as devotion to their Lord. People wake up early in morning and get ready for the day. Many people visit temples and participate in Aartis and chants. After puja rituals people eat phalahar, fruits and sweets only which are allowed for the fast.

It is important, not to look at the moon during certain times of the festival. It is considered that watching the moon will bring the bad omen.

GANESH CHATURTHI CELEBRATION

The celebration of Lord Ganesha birthday is a huge event in which millions of people participates and that is not just by sitting in their homes but coming in the temples, on streets, markets etc. more. The joy of festival is mesmerizing and will surely attracts you to participate in it as well.

Beautifully handcrafted idols of the Lord are placed both in homes and in public places. All the temples, homes, streets and market places are in the decoration dedicated to the Lord Ganesha. The idos are worshiped every day, with Aartis in evening. Many acts and dramas are performed for the celebration.

On all these 10 days, the festival and rituals are followed in same manner. On final day, people would bring out their Lord Idols after special puja, to immerse the idols in water. On this day, every family will bring their idols on the streets featuring a grand celebration with traditional drumming, colors and crackers. The largest Ganesh Statues are the main attractions of the celebration. Millions of people would come on the streets to celebrate, dance on drumming and play colors to show their devotion for their Lord and all is done with complete brotherhood. The immersion of Lord Idol is ritual symbol of Lord Ganesh’s journey to his parents and home at Mount Kailash. It is believed that whole year especially during these 10 days Lord Ganesha stays among people for their protection and fortune, but on last day he goes to see his family.

CELEBRATION ACROSS GLOBE

The main celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi happens in India, where people celebrate at home or in public. It is famous festival among Hindus, but in many regions people from other religions came together to celebrate it. Public celebration is more popular for the festival. Local groups, especially of youths, are organized who collects funds & donations from locals, leaders and famous people. The fund is then used to make Pandals and Mandaps for the worship of lord Ganesha, decorations, puja items, sweets & Bhog and the idols of Lord. All the temples are also decorated, especially which are dedicated to Lord Ganesha.

The festival is celebrated in whole India, but the major celebrations occur in Maharashtra, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The biggest celebration of the world happens in Mumbai where many devotees come together on streets with their idols. A huge rally of all the biggest Lord Idols along with the idols of devotees on the streets crosses, followed by the drummers, dancers and singers playing with colors and flowers. People also please their Lord with colors. People from everywhere come to witness the grand celebration of Mumbai City.

The festival is celebrated outside India with equal joy and devotion. In Pakistan, an organization of Maharashtrians, conducts the celebration. British Hindu celebrates this festival in UK, especially in London annually. Mauritius has public holiday for the festival day. Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated in Nepal, North America, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Afghanistan and Ghana too.

CELEBRATE ECO-FRIENDLY GANESH CHATURTHI THIS YEAR

Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated at grand level, hence there are thousands of Lord Ganesha Idols which are made of POPs or plastics etc. which are then submerged into water banks like rivers or seas. These type of idols are non-biodegradables and harmful for the nature and the species of water. So it is an important and urgent requirement seeing the rapid climate change to stop such things and use bio-degradable idols.

According to the Hindu mythology and Hindu religious texts, it is mentioned that the idol of Lord Ganesha should be made of sand only, so Idols made of sand are both ritualism as well as eco-friendly idols. For the decoration, you can use fresh flowers, leaves and diyas for all places like homes, temples and pandals. The colors used to decorate Ganpati Idols and to make rangolis should also be eco-friendly only. Try to keep the idol of Lord Ganesha small in size and can place one idol between more members so as to lessen the no. of idols.

“KINDLY CELEBRATE AN ECO-FRIENDLY GANESH CHATURTHI TO SAVE THE BEAUTIFUL WORLD MADE BY OUR LORD”

GANESH CHATURTHI – FESTIVAL OF UNITY AND INSPIRATION

Ganesh Chaturthi isn’t just a festival or celebration, rather it’s an occasion which brings people of different culture, cast and races together. People from everywhere celebrate the function with the unity and equal joy & happiness. The festival is full of positivity and inspiration. The function is remark of “The Start of New Beginnings and The Removal of Obstacles”. The 10 days of festival brings the calmness, patience and strength in devotees and also increases their devotion towards the Lord. Hence Ganesh Chaturthi is a festival of Unity and Inspiration.