Finally, the 11-day Ganeshotsav is coming to an end today. The festival that started with Ganesh Chaturthi is ending with Ganesha Visarjan on Anant Chaturdashi Day.
Anant is the another name of Lord Vishnu, and Chaturdashi means fourteen, Anant Chaturdashi, falls 10 days after Ganesh Chaturthi. It is the last day of Ganeshotsav when Ganesha idols are immersed in the water. On the auspicious day of Anant Chaturdashi, women keep fast for the well-being of their family, people observe the fast and tie the thread colored with kumkum and turmeric having fourteen knots, known as ‘Ananta Sutra’, on their arms, this anant thread is removed after fourteen days. Women tie the thread on their left hand and men on their right.
Significance
Ganesh leaving Mount Kailasha to come and bless his devotees on his birth anniversary. The 10-day long festival will end today with Ganpati Visarjan, that is on 5th September, 2017, on Anant Chaturdashi when devotees will immerse his idol in water signifying the departure of his physical embodiment, meaning the deity goes back to Mount Kailasha and devotees see him off with grand celebrations. Ideally, the immersion takes place on the 11th day; however, some prefer to immerse the idol on one and a half day, third day, fifth day or seventh day.
Prasad and Bhog
Modak is the favorite food of the deity. The outer shelf is made using rice flour/wheat flour/maida and the filling consists of freshly grated coconut and jaggery. The modak is either fried or steamed. It is called modak in Marathi, Gujarati, and Konkani, Modhaka in Kannada, Kudumu in Telugu and Kozhakkattai in Tamil.
Tithi
According to Hindu division of the day, the time duration between sunrise and sunset is divided into 5 equal parts – Pratahkala, Sangava, Madhyahna, Aparahna and Sayankal. Lord Ganesha was born on Madhyana Kala and hence it is advised to perform puja vidhis during Madhyahna. Here are the Auspicious muhurats for Ganesh visarjan – The visarjan should be done during these four muhurats:
- Morning Muhurta (Char, Labh, Amrit) = 09:12 – 13:53
- Afternoon Muhurta (Shubh) = 15:27 – 17:01
- Evening Muhurta (Labh) = 20:01 – 21:27
- Night Muhurta (Shubh, Amrit, Char) = 22:53 – 27:13+
The procession is joined by many devotees and the atmosphere is filled with slogans and chants dedicated to the elephant headed god. The street procession is accompanied with Dhol, Tasha and the other traditional instruments. Ganesha Visarjan continues throughout the night till the next morning.
