Mumbai sets up for Ganesh visarjan: Celebrating the end of festivities.

          Ganesh chaturthi is celebrated with great devotion all over India. People bring home idols of Lord Ganesha and celebrate the festival by worshiping the Lord in a special way. The idol may be brought for a day and a half, 5 days, 7 days or 11 days depending on the family tradition.

          The excitement of Ganpati visarjan is simply overwhelming. It brings people of different castes and religion together. On the evening of the last day of the festival, every Ganpati idol is accompanied by hundreds of people who march together; chanting “Ganpati Bappa Mourya”; men, women and children dancing to the loud music and beating of the dhols (drums), bollywood songs, bhajans and live music bands playing foot tapping songs vied for attention. Some mandals even have troupes performing.

           People gather in groups offering final puja before offering adieu to the lord, distributing prasad to everyone and chanting “Ganpati bappa mourya pudchya varshi lavkar ya”. With Bursts of gulal in the air by the devotees, Ganeshji’s idols are taken to the sea for immersion. People go as far as possible in the waters to immerse the idols they worshipped for these many days.

        To control such a large crowd of people, this year, security has been tightened and 25,000 policemen have been deployed across Mumbai. The BSF and SRPF have also stepped in.

           Over 350 lifeguards have been stationed at major immersion spots and 37 watch towers have been erected to monitor the immersion. So this year promises a safe Ganpati Visarjan  in the city.

 GANPATI BAPPA MOURYA !! MANGAL MURTI MOURYA !!