The 10-day Ganesh festival has begun in Maharashtra, with devotees welcoming Lord Ganesha into their homes and public pandals. The state government has declared the celebrations a state festival for the first time.
Rediff readers tell us how the festival keeps tradition alive and brings their community together.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to have photos of Lord Ganesh and Goddess Lakshmi on currency notes.
Ganesh Chaturthi is here and everyone from Sachin Tendulkar to Ajinkya Rahane and Harbhajan Singh took to Twitter to extend their greetings to fans and followers on the auspicious occasion.
You can e-mail your pictures to getahead@rediff.co.in (My Lord Ganesha Pix) with your name, location, details about your Lord Ganesha and what this festival means to you. We will publish the best entries right here on Rediff.com.
President Droupadi Murmu offered prayers at the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala, becoming the first woman head of state to visit the shrine. She participated in traditional rituals and ceremonies during her visit.
14 of 20 died due to drowning in different incidents that occurred during the immersion of Ganesh idols in parts of Maharashtra.
In response to the tragic incident, many committees scaled back their celebrations significantly.
'As the sweet fragrance of modak fills the air, we fold our hands and bow down to the God of wisdom.'
Amid the beating of drums and chants of 'Ganpati Bappa Morya', various Ganesh mandals in Mumbai on Thursday started processions to immerse the idols of the deity, marking the culmination of the 10-day festival.
As per police, some miscreants travelling in an autorickshaw threw stones at the Ganesh pandal, damaging the idol.
Rediff readers tell us how they are celebrating Ganeshotsav this year.
The Elephant God simply loves these delicacies.
Jennifer Lopez sang, Ranveer Singh danced, Janhvi Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Shahid Kapoor, Kriti Sanon, Jacqueline Fernandez, Nora Fatehi performed at American businessman Rama Raju Mantena's daughter, Netra Elizabeth's Udaipur wedding with tech entrepreneur Vamsi Gadiraju.
The police produced the 27 accused in the court and submitted an application, seeking their 14-day remand to carry out investigation to find out whether rioting was part of a pre-planned conspiracy.
As Lord Ganesha comes home this year, we take a look at how children welcomed him.
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As the festival began on Monday morning, idols of different shapes and sizes of the elephant-headed God, the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati and considered as a symbol of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune, were installed at the sarvanjik (community) mandals and at homes by devotees.
The members of the two communities pelted each other with stones after an argument broke out between them over some issue when the Ganesh procession was passing through Panigate Darwaza in the communally sensitive Mandvi locality at around 11.15 pm, a city police official said.
Kareena Kapoor seeks blessings from Lord Ganesha for her forthcoming film Heroine.
Hundreds of devotees danced to devotional music and beating of drums and playing of nagaswaram as Lord Ganesh's idol was taken in a procession in Flushing in northern Queens, a suburb of New York City.
The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has announced the completion of all construction work on the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, including the main shrine. The announcement comes ahead of a possible visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Deepa Thoon controversy, if not allowed to die a natural death, could take the election focus away from the anti-incumbency impacting the DMK and into the secular space. Stalin would love to have it that way, all over again, after the three past elections, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Rediff.com's Satish Bodas goes pandal hopping and offers glimpses of some interesting Ganeshas in Mumbai.
Mumbai's famous organiser in Ganesh Galli on Tuesday decided to bring in a four-feet idol instead of a larger than life, 22-feet idol.
The employees are demanding salary parity with state government employees, seeking a pay scale adjustment to match that of their counterparts in the state sector.
The 10-day Ganesh festival began on Saturday under the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, with devotees restricting celebrations to their homes and using online platforms to get 'darshan' of the Lord at temples, amid strict COVID-19 restrictions imposed by governments.
Citing the Covid-19 situation, the police on Thursday imposed orders under CrPC section 144 in Mumbai, prohibiting the assembly of five or more persons during the Ganesh festival between September 10 and 19.
In Tamil Nadu a steamed, spicy delicacy, looking like a modak, is made for Vinayak Chaturthi.
Ganesh Chaturthi to be celebrated in London
It's that time of the year again when Ganesh Chaturthi festivities brighten every corner of town and prayers, prasad and pretty clothes are on every faith and fashion enthusiast's mind.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his cabinet colleagues Pankaja Munde and Vinod Tawde, Union minister Nitin Gadkari, state minister Sadabhau Khot, former Union Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi were prominent among those who installed Ganpati idols at their homes.
Devotees across India on Thursday welcomed their most beloved and venerated deity -- Lord Ganesh -- into their homes and community pandals, kickstarting the ten-day Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations with zeal and devotion.
Ganesh Chaturthi is on September 7, but the God Of New Beginnings has already made his glorious presence in Mumbai.
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The event, being organised by 'Discovering Ganesh' -- a contemporary multi-faced project created by New York-based photographer Shana Dressler out of her passion for India and the Lord Ganesh, seeks to create a collaborative effort to remove obstacles in the lives of the poor in India.
Maharashtra has witnessed 823 incidents of communal unrest since January this year, with demands for the removal of Aurangzeb's tomb and the spread of distorted facts on social media fomenting fresh trouble. Districts like Nandurbar, Pune (Rural), Ratnagiri, Sangli, Beed, and Satara have seen communal unrest in recent days due to right-wing organizations' demands for the demolition of the Mughal emperor's tomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The state witnessed 4,836 Hindu-Muslim related communal crimes in 2024, with 170 incidents classified as cognisable and 3,106 as non-cognisable cases. The violence in Nagpur, triggered by protests demanding the removal of Aurangzeb's tomb, highlights the role of social media in spreading inflammatory content and instigating people. While the state has taken measures to curb the spread of misinformation, concerns remain over the impact on communities and the need for promoting peace and understanding.
'Devendra Fadnavis is stating that Marathas must feel OBCs are not happy with reservations for the Marathas and therefore they are protesting.'
