Ganesh Chaturthi is a 10-day-long festival celebrating the birth of Lord Ganesha. This year it will be celebrated on Wednesday 31st August 2022. Lord Ganesha is the elephant-headed god of prosperity and wisdom. Lord Ganesha is also known as the breaker of obstacles and is worshipped at the beginning of many new ventures and undertakings.
Indians celebrate so many festivals worldwide. This provides a powerful reminder of home miles away and brings the overseas Indian community together. Indian traditions and celebrations have an enthusiasm and energy which revitalize life and spirits. The prayers, the chanting, the singing, all the colors, and the special food and drink rituals are the elements that bring the festivities alive.
Today we will take a look at the fervor of the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in countries like the U.S., the UK, and Singapore.
Ganesh Chaturthi in New York
As Lord Ganesh’s statue is carried in a procession through Flushing, a suburb of New York City, hundreds of devotees dance to nagaswaram music and other forms of devotional music. Flushing is located in the northern part of Queens.
Every year, the Flushing, New York, Indian community hosts a special chariot procession to honor Lord Ganesha. Ganpati is pulled by silver-plated horses in a chariot. The yatra makes its way through the streets of this large Indian neighborhood, passing Indian beauty parlors and candy stores.
The procession has hundreds of followers. The temple is officially called the Sri Maha Vallabha Ganapathi Devasthanam.
Ganesh Chaturthi in the UK
The people of Hounslow, London, celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi for two days and worship idols constructed of environmentally friendly materials. They hold the customary puja ceremony on the first day, which is followed by activities like the rangoli competition and fancy dress parade. After dark, they host parties with DJs. The idol is immersed in the River Thames during the performance of Ganapati Visarjan on the second day, which follows a lengthy procession.
At Dolis Hill in London, more than 10,000 people attend the Ganesh Chaturthi festival event. Cultural events take place in the evening after the morning’s traditional puja. After that, the idol is brought to Liverpool for immersion.
Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated for 11 days at the Slough Mitra Mandala. Slough hosts a lot of kid-friendly events with fun activities like a 3D Ganesh competition. Every day, as part of Mahaprasad, devout people are given delicious food, and on the eleventh day, the idol is immersed.
In addition to these locations, the Ganesh Chaturthi celebration is observed throughout the UK in places including Manchester, Leicester, Birmingham, and Cardiff. The events are organized by certain Indian populations in some areas, while important Hindu temples organize them in other areas.
Ganesh Chaturthi in Singapore
In honor of Lord Ganesha’s birthday, Hindu devotees in Singapore decorated a temple with a gold crown worth 150,000 Singapore dollars, while hundreds of onlookers visited three trees whose bark resembled Hanuman, Ganesha, and a Chinese deity.
According to media reports, the 3.5 kg crown was allegedly set on the Lord Ganesha idol, which is also the largest in South East Asia, in the first-ever crowning ceremony performed in Singapore.
It was supported by the followers and guests of Singapore’s Sri Senpaga Vinayagar Temple at Ceylon Road. According to a report by Channel News Asia, Lord Ganesha has a sizable following of Indian and Chinese worshippers.
On the west coast of Singapore, three African Mahogany trees have been attracting audiences because of the way their barks resemble the Hindu gods Hanuman, Ganesha, and the Chinese goddess Guan Yin. One shows two Hanumans standing side by side, while the other has a Ganesha-like head with bark that resembles the trunk. Chinese people revere the Monkey God. According to a Sunday Times report from today, the Chinese Goddess of Mercy, Guan Yin, may be seen in the bark of a third tree nearby.
The global excitement and celebrations of festivals such as Ganesh Chaturthi help to build spirit and positive energy. The level of care and dedication involved in the preparations is inspiring. May Lord Ganesha bestow us all with prosperity and wisdom.
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FAQs
This year it will be celebrated on Wednesday 31st August 2022
It is celebrated for 10 days.
People pray to Lord Ganesha for prosperity and wisdom.
We celebrate it in honor of Lord Ganesha’s birthday.
