Hindus have a very popular festival, the Ganesh Chaturthi, which is celebrated in other parts of the world as well.

Well, to sum it up, an idol of the God is brought home on the first day of the festival, and it is then worshiped everyday. On the tenth day, it is taken to a river and immersed in it. Now, some families immerse the idol after three, five, or seven days. The days are decided according to a Hindu calendar so, sometimes (like this year) the festival is of 11 days.

A little history, during the freedom struggle of India, Lokmanya Tilak organised the Sarvajanik Ganesh Chaturthi (literally translated as Public Ganesh Chaturthi) So, the idol was brought to a specific place (like a square or a landmark) and people living around that area would worship it, have cultural meetings and programs etc. The main objective however, was to spread a feeling of unity among the Indians and, conduct secret meetings.

The story behind Ganesh is somewhat funny.

Traditional Ganesha Hindu stories tell of Lord Ganesha, son of goddess Parvati, who is consort of Shiva. Parvati created Ganesha out of sandalwood paste that she used for her bath and breathed life into the figure. She then set him the task of guarding her door while she bathed. Lord Shiva, who had gone out, returned and as Ganesha didn't know him, didn't allow him to enter. Lord Shiva became enraged by this and asked his follower Ganas to teach the child some manners. Ganesha who was very powerful, being born of Parvati, the embodiment of Shakti, defeated Shiva's followers and declared that nobody was allowed to enter while his mother was bathing. The sage of heavens, Narada along with the Saptarishis sensed the growing turmoil and went to appease the boy with no results. Angered, the king of Gods, Indra attacked the boy with his entire heavenly army but even they didn't stand a chance. By then, this issue had become a matter of pride for Shiva. Angry Shiva severed the head of the child. Parvati seeing this became enraged. Seeing Parvati in anger Shiva promised that her son will be alive again. The devas searched for the head of dead person facing North, but they found only the head of a dead elephant. They brought the head of the elephant and Shiva fixed it on the child's body and brought him back to life. Lord Shiva also declared that from this day the boy would be called Ganesha (Gana Isha : Lord of Ganas).

According to the Linga Purana, Ganesha was created by Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati at the request of the Devas for being a Vighnakartaa (obstacle-creator) in the path of Rakshasas, and a Vighnahartaa (obstacle-averter) to help the Devas achieve fruits of their hard work. - Wikipedia

Putting aside the fact that Parvati could breathe life into sandalwood but couldn't fix it's broken head,



and the fact that Indra's heavenly army lost to a boy made of clay,



and the fact that while all of this was going on, Parvati was still bathing (was probably singing songs in the tub...) the story is somewhat interesting.



So, like I said, the idol is brought home on Ganesh Chaturthi (first day) and immersed on Anant Chaturdashi (tenth/eleventh/twelfth day)

But, here's what Ganesh Chaturthi is today:

1. Ganesh Chaturthi: Day of arrival

How it was intended/used to be:
The idol was brought home and the entire family would be happy. The women in the house would make sweets/modaks for the ritual and the men would sit down with a brahmin for the ritual.

How it is today:
The men get a holiday from work and reluctantly go out to get the idol. Children are happy that they got a holiday from school. And the mother tries to cheer everyone up because she is the only one who is actually happy.



2. Cultural programmes: A kind of event held for people of all ages to perform in front of a crowd, for entertainment (Only in sarvajanik/public celebrations)

How it was intended/used to be:
Well, I don't know how it used to be but this is what I think it was intended for. The elders would perform scenes from Ganesh's life to teach the children about the legends. And the children would perform traditional dances, and sing traditional songs or chant a prayer.

How it is today:
More of a high-school talent show. I've seen 11 year olds try to rap, 10 year olds dancing to a poorly mixed Hindi dubstep song, 9 year old girls dance like Shakira (if you know what I mean) to her songs, children performing humourous plays that aren't related to Ganesh and grown ups singing boring songs.......no, not prayers, boring old songs.



3. Coming together: Everyone coming together for the rituals and feeling united. (Sarvajanik/public only)

How it was intended/used to be:
People of all religions coming together for the daily prayers and talking.

How it is today:
Mostly Hindus with a few people of other religions. And, they just attend the prayers, take the prasad (offerings to the God) and leave without speaking to each other.



4. Immersion: There is a small (well......not at all small) procession for taking the idol to the river for immersion. It used to be small before Sarvajanik Ganpati.

How it was intended/used to be:
Everyone coming together and giving the God a hearty goodbye with traditional music (Dhol, tasha etc) and dancing. And shouting out "Ganpati bappa morya" etc.

How it is today:
Everyone coming together to be a part of the immersion. DJs taking over the traditional music and drunkards taking over the "dance floor". Everyone looking for an opportunity to shout "Ganpati bappa morya" etc but of course, the DJ doesn't stop. And people bursting firecrackers for some reason. Basically, attempts at increasing noise pollution.



So, this is what faith is today. I'm no fan of long festivals but I did used to enjoy the more traditional kind of this festival back when I was 5 or 6. Now, it has lost all it's meaning.