Ganesh Festival Begins, Grand Celebrations Planned As Covid Curbs Lifted
NDTV
Ganesh Chaturthi 2022: The Covid curbs, now lifted, had curtailed the celebration in the last two years, hence the public celebration of the festival in roadside pandals is expected to be on a bigger scale this year.
The 10-day Ganesh Chaturthi festival started in Maharashtra and elsewhere in the country on Wednesday with the coronavirus pandemic no longer casting its shadow on the celebrations.
The idols of Lord Ganesh, the god of prosperity and wisdom and a slayer of obstacles (vighnaharta), will be installed in homes across the state with pomp and gaiety.
The pandemic-induced restrictions, now lifted, had curtailed the celebration in the last two years, hence the public celebration of the festival in roadside Ganesh pandals is expected to be on a bigger scale this year.
The public celebration of the festival in Maharashtra dates back to the 1890s when the nationalist leader Bal Gangadhar Tilak and others decided to use it to mobilise the masses.
