Ganesh Chaturthi or Ganpati Festival is one of the biggest festivals celebrated in India and is very popular amongst Maharashtrians. It is celebrated on the birthday of Lord Ganesh where he is worshiped for 10 or more days. People set up beautifully crafted Ganesha’s idols at home, offices, malls etc. and worship him by offering Kheer, Panchamrit, fruits and sweets and specially Modaks are placed before him as “Naivedya” or “Bhog” as Lord Ganesh is very fond of sweets. On the 10th day – the Anant Chaturdashi, the sea fronts are packed with the mass of humanity as the idols of Ganesh are carried towards their watery rest among fireworks displays, beating drums and shouts of “Ganapati Bappa Moriya, Pudhachya varshi lavkar ya” (Return early next year, Oh Victorious Lord Ganesh) and then he is devotedly immersed in water.
With the rise of Social Media, Ganapati Bappa has also stepped into this world and has started making his presence on the timelines of his followers. People and Social Media Companies have started making Facebook pages on his name where they are sharing different kinds of Ganapati pictures, These pages are running a count down to the festival and asking several questions about Lord Ganesha. Many even have applications where one can pray for his or her wish and the application gives the assurance that all the wishes would come true.
Just because of the existence of social media platforms this Mumbai centric festival, has now reached different parts of the world where people don’t even celebrate it.
