GANESH CHATURTHI

About:

• Ganesh Chaturthi is a Hindu festival celebrating the birth of Lord Ganesha as the God of New Beginnings and the Remover of Obstacles as well as the god of wisdom and intelligence.
  
  
• It is also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi or Vinayaka Chavithi.
  
  
• Duration: It is a ten-day festival, starting on the fourth day of Hindu Lunisolar calendar month Bhadrapada, which typically falls in the months of August or September of the Gregorian calendar.
  
  

Celebrations:

• The festival is marked with the installation of Ganesha clay idols privately in homes, or publicly on elaborate pandals (temporary stages).
  
  
• The festival ends on the tenth day after start, wherein the idol is immersed in a nearby body of water, thereafter the clay idol dissolves and Ganesha is believed to return to Mount Kailash to Parvati and Shiva.
  
  
• At public venues, along with the reading of texts and group feasting, athletic and martial arts competitions are also held.