"Ganpati Bappa Moriya... Pudhchya Varshi Lavkar yaa"
Oh Ganpati My Lord...return soon next year
Saturday, September 18, 2010
The slogan, in Marathi, that is ecstatically called out during the final procession, carrying the Ganapathi idol, to immerse it into water. Every devotee who joined in the DC ashram for Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations would definitely want those days to come back soon.
DC ashram celebrated the Ganesh Chaturthi for a week, beginning from September 11th thru September
18th, 2010. A beautiful and charming clay idol of Ganesh was installed at the ashram alter and
pujas and arati were performed following traditions for a week.
Neither the climate nor the traffic deterred devotees from attending the daily arati at 7pm which included:
- Chanting of Ganesha slokas
- Chanting of Ganesha Ashtottara Shatanamavali (108 names)
- Ganesha bhajans
- Ganesha Arati synchronous to singing the traditional arati songs
- Guru arati
Saturday, September 18th, 2010 marked the final day of the celebrations. The arati began at 4pm.
Even the new batch of the Amrita Balakendra children, along with their parents, joined in the arati.
The devotees then carried the Ganesh idol in procession around the ashram premise fervently calling
out "Ganpathy Bappa... Moriya" between bhajans. Cymbals, tambourines,clapping etc added to the intensity of the joy in devotion.
After the procession, the Ganesh idol was placed at the main entrance of the Ashram. A few bhajans and the arati song were sung as the final arati at the ashram was performed. The idol was then taken to a nearby river, where the Ganapathy idol was immersed into the water symbolizing the form of the Lord dissolving into the infinite, reminding the devotees to transcend the form in quest of the formless Supreme.
The regular satsang took place thereafter with Lalitha sahasranamam (1000 names of divine Mother) Amma�s ashtottara shata namavali (108 names of Amma.) and many more bhajans in praise of Lord Ganesh. A satsang on the significance of the form of Lord Ganesha was given by Br. Ramanand.
View pictures of the week long celebrations.