Ahmedabad, Chennai bid adieu to Ganpati as the 10-day-long festival approaches its end
The 10-day-long celebrations began on 5 September as people welcomed Ganpati into their homes.
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The immersion of Ganesh idols in water bodies was observed on Sunday in Chennai as devotees bid adieu to the elephant-headed god. Ganesh Chaturthi, also called Vinayaka Chaturthi was celebrated across Tamil Nadu with people performing prayers before clay idols of the elephant-headed god, which are then immersed in water bodies marking the conclusion of the festivities. PTI
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The celebrations began on 5 September as people welcomed Ganpati into their homes. The aroma of “kozhakattai”, a rice flour and jaggery dumpling enveloped the city as the people enjoyed the festival exchanging sweets with friends. PTI
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The ritual of idol immersion also raises some environmental concerns as increasingly, the traditional clay idols have been replaced by Plaster of Paris statues. Environmentalists have been propagating the use of eco-friendly traditional clay idols. They also insist that various Puja articles and clothes etc should be discarded separately. PTI
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In Ahmedabad too, the festival was observed with zeal as devotees immersed Ganpati idols in the Sabarmati river. The festival, initiated in an open public format in 1892 by Mumbai’s Bhausaheb Laxman Javale alias Bhau Rangari, this year entered the 125th year. Reuters
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It was popularised on a mass scale by freedom-fighter Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak from 1893 onwards in Pune to unite the people against the British Rule and in the struggle for Indian Independence. And in less than a decade, it had spread across Maharashtra in a big way and even other parts of the country where public Ganeshotsav celebrations were held. Reuters
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