A Report on the celebration of ‘Sri Ganesha Chaturthi’
Ganesh Charturthi is a festival marking the birth of the elephant – headed deity Ganesha. He is widely revered as the remover of obstacles. The Ganesha festival is celebrated on every Bhadrapada Shukla Chavithi. We believe that worshipping of God Ganesha purifies our mind and promotes good thoughts. Also, by performing puja we develop discipline, concentration, devotion and calmness and achieve success in all ventures of our lives.
Idol Making:
Usually, in our school, ‘Ganesha Chaturthi’ festival preparations begin two weeks in advance with the making of eco-friendly clay idols of Ganesha by the students after the school hours i.e., from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. with the assistance of the Fine Arts teacher in our school premises. This year, 70 of our students from Classes VIII, IX and X made clay idols and performed the puja at the quadrangle of Building 1 of the school.
This year we celebrated Ganesha Chaturthi on Monday, 18 September 2023. On that day, we started Ganesha puja at 10:00 a.m. in the direction of the priest of Shri Balaji Temple, Balaji Nagar, Talur Road, Ballari. The students worshipped the individual clay idols of Ganesha made by them. On behalf of school, the Chief Mr. K. Anil Babu performed Ganesha puja with much devotion along with his family members to the clay idol of Ganesha made by the fine arts teacher of the school. We worshipped Lord Ganesha with devotion and offered sincere prayers to Him with Veda mantras chanted by the priest.
After the Shodasa puja to Ganesha, the priest explained us about the importance of celebrating Ganesha Chaturthi and why it is so customary to begin every occasion with the blessings of Lord Ganesha, who removes all obstacles. The priest narrated the story of ‘Syamantaka Mani’ and the significance of ‘Ganesha Vratam’.
The puja programme ended with the distribution of prasadam to all at 12:15 p.m. on that day.
Nimajjanam:
The word 'Nimajjanam' or 'Visarjan' means, giving a send-off to the deity in a respectful manner after the prayers and thanking the Lord for his blessings. This magnificent event, immersion of Lord Ganapati’s idol in water, a send-off to Him, commemorate the conclusion of the celebrations.
At about 2:00 p.m. the interested students of classes Nursery to 10th gathered along with the school staff, parents and well-wishers in the school ground. Then almost for 1 hour all of them played and danced by applying coloured powder to each other.
Later, students were drenched by a water hose and this thrilling event created a feeling of excitement as if they were dancing in rain and enjoyed themselves. All the kids were enthusiastically involved, forgetting their difficulties, problems and stress in the celebration.
Later, idols Ganesha were immersed in artificial water pond in the school. It is believed that when the idol of the Ganesha is immersed in a water body, it destroys all the obstacles or evils of that place.
These occasions conserve and promote the Hindu tradition, culture and values among the younger generations. It is hoped that this Ganesha puja pleases Him and brings peace, wisdom, prosperity and happiness in everyone’s life.
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