Ganesh Chaturthi, the birthday of Lord Ganesha was celebrated at Wellington with great devotion. Though pooja started on 19th September, the statue of Lord Ganesha was brought to Wellington amidst playing Dhol and dance by devotees and showering of flowers and rose petals on the 18th evening. This time some ladies performed the Pooja for two days, some for four days. At 1 C 24, Ankita performed the pooja for a complete ten days. Ladies attended Kirtan and Aarti every day at 7 pm.
On the 27th, kirtan started at 5.30 because it was the last day of kirtan. That day, the host had invited professional singers and made it very lively.28th was the Visarjan day and at 4.30, amidst roaring chants of ‘Ganpati Bappa Maurya,agle baras tu jaldi Ana’, the idol of lord Ganesha was immersed in a big tub, filled with water and rose petals.
Here is a question, if we are inviting lord Ganesha next year, then how would we perform Ganesh and Laxmi Pooja at Diwali, which is just one and a half months after this visarjan? We are not immersing lord Krishna after Janmashtami, so why lord Ganesha and Maa Durga’s idols should be immersed? I think we should stop this tradition. It will stop water pollution and have a check on extravagance.
