Ganesh Chaturthi celebrates the birth of Lord Ganesha on the fourth day of the bright half of Bhadrapada. Families welcome Ganpati home for one and a half, five, seven or ten days.
Preparing the altar
Choose an eco-friendly clay idol. Place it on a chowki covered with red or yellow cloth, facing east or north, with a kalash beside it.
Pranapratishtha
The pandit invokes the Lord's presence in the idol with Vedic mantras. This is followed by shodashopachar puja — sixteen offerings including water, cloth, sandalwood, flowers, durva grass and modak.
वक्रतुण्ड महाकाय सूर्यकोटि समप्रभ।
Daily puja
Morning and evening aarti with modak or laddoo bhog is performed every day.
Visarjan
On the final day an uttar puja is done and Ganpati is bid farewell with the prayer “Ganpati Bappa Morya, pudhchya varshi lavkar ya”. Choose home or artificial-tank visarjan to protect rivers.
