Initially, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj began the tradition of worshipping Lord Ganesha in Maharashtra.
Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the fearless revolutionary freedom fighter, gets the credit for initiating the celebrations of this festival on a wide scale.
In 1833 he urged the people to unite and come together for celebrations of their Lord. His basic motive behind this was to unite and bond people together and create awareness about freedom among them. Since then Ganesh Chaturthi is being celebrated on a wide scale across Maharashtra every year.
There is another fable relating to Lord Ganesha. On a Chaturthi moon day, the lord of the stars made fun of Ganesha and his bulging belly. Ganesha got angry and cursed that anyone who looked at him on the night of Shukla Paksha Chaturthi day would get bad luck. Hence, as per legend one should not look at the moon on the night of Ganesh Chaturthi.
To mark the festival, clay models of the God are brought home by the devotees and worshipped for 10 days. Women make modakas, Lord Ganesha's favourite sweet, to offer him during prayers. The same procedure is followed for 10 days. On the 11th day the idol is taken on a procession through the streets of the city and is then immersed in water near a sea coast or a river bank.
During the immersion of the idol, people shout in chorus, ‘Ganapati Bappa Morya, Purcha Varshi Laukariya' which means devotees urge the God to come back early next year.
The final offerings are done using flowers, camphor and coconut. Fulfilling all the rituals, devotees then again wait for Ganesha to come next year and bless them.
In Bengal, large idols of Ganesha are worshipped at educational institutions, where students in new clothes observe fast and pray to the Lord to give them wisdom and learning.
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