The story behind Ganesh Chaturthi
The festival traditionally lasts ten days, culminating in the immersion (visarjan) of Ganesha's idol on Anant Chaturdashi. During this period, families and communities install clay Ganesha idols, offe…
The festival traditionally lasts ten days, culminating in the immersion (visarjan) of Ganesha's idol on Anant Chaturdashi. During this period, families and communities install clay Ganesha idols, offer modaks (his favourite sweet), recite the Ganesh Atharvashirsha, and perform daily arati with devotion.
Gau Seva on Ganesh Chaturthi is considered deeply auspicious. Ganesha, as the lord of obstacles and the presiding deity of earthly abundance, is intimately connected with the cow's symbolism of plenty. The Ganesha Purana records that Ganesha is pleased when cows are cared for, for the cow represents the earth herself — patient, nourishing, and inexhaustible. Offering food to cows on the day of Ganesha's birth is a way of honouring the abundance that Ganpati Bappa brings and invoking his blessings for the year ahead.