CHICAGO: Ganesh Chaturthi also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi or Vinayaka Chavithi is a popular Hindu festival celebrated in honor of Lord Ganesh. Hindu Mandir of Lake County, Grayslake, celebrated it with much fervor for ten days starting with setting up of idol of Lord Ganesha on the first day (25 August) to immersion of the idols on the tenth day (4 Sept).
All the ten days hundreds of devotees came to the temple but on the last day a huge crowd joined actively in a procession immersing Lord in pond created specifically for this purpose. During this time, temple organized morning and evening special Sponsor Family Pujas for Lord Ganesha.
Maharashtrian community organized their special event in the honor of Lord Ganesha on 27 August morning. Young children from Chicago Marathi School and well-known local artists showcased their talents by chanting prayers, singing Bhajans and upholding the rich tradition of India’s culture and heritage, through magnificent presentations. A large crowd – more than 700 devotees that day – performed a grand Aarti followed by mouth watering Maharashtrian Maha Prasad prepared by Nandini Vishwas Rao and Rekha Devadhar along with their best crew. Brilliant drummers displayed an amazing episode to thousands of devotees.
The festival ended with ‘Ganesh Visarjan’ where the idols are immersed in water. More than 100 beautiful little to large Ganesh statues were brought by the devotees to the Hindu Mandir for visarjan event that was organized on Anant Chaturdasi- the 11th day. The statues were placed in a body of water and left to disintegrate in a process called visarjan (immersion). Hundreds of devotees joined the procession and filled the whole atmosphere with popular Lord Ganesha farewell chanting “Ganapati Bappa Moraya, Pudhchya Varshi Laukar ya” (O father Ganesha, come again speedily next year).
Manoj Bhat led the Ganesh festival and Prachi Bhagwat coordinated Dhol and Tasha. Pandit Anil Joshi along with Yogesh Pandya and Ramachari performed Vedic rituals and prayers before immersion and asked all the devotees to slowly immerse the Lord in the water tub. All devotees dispersed with heavy heart, just consoling themselves as they all will wait till the next year for his Grand welcome again.
“I love Ganesh Festival and I like colors, decorations, and in the midst the main Statue of Ganapati ji which is awesome and breathtaking,” said one of the devotees.
Surendra Ullal
