Youth celebrate Lord Ganesha: Fountain of blessings to believers

Youths from the South Indian Youth Club celebrated the Hindu Lord Ganesha festival on Entebbe road last Sunday after trekking for 12 hours from Emerald Hotel on Bombo Road to Entebbe Botanical Beach where the function ended.
According to Siva Koti Reddy Challa, the association chairperson, this is the fourth year they have organised the festival which is an 11-day-prayer season when they ask for blessings from their god—lord Ganesha who is considered the most important god among the Hindus. Despite worshipping many gods, the Hindu consider him the most important god and other Hindu Communities such as the Lohana Community, Maha Rastra, Mandajm Nsyambias, Hindu Perehat and Partidar Samaj recognise him and hold different activities to commemorate the festival.

How it is celebrated
The festival begins with the installation of huge elaborately crafted statutes of Ganesha in homes and podiums, which have been specially constructed and beautifully decorated. Artisans put months of effort into making the statues. It is forbidden to look at the moon on this first night as legend had it the moon laughed at Lord Ganesha when he fell from his vehicle, the rat. On Ananta Chaturdasi (the last day), the statues are paraded through the streets, accompanied by much singing and dancing, and then immersed in the ocean or other bodies of water. In Mumbai, India more than 150,000 statues are immersed each year.

Rituals performed
Once a statue of Lord Ganesha is installed, a ceremony is undertaken to invoke his holy presence into the statue. This ritual is called the Pranapratishhtha Puja, during which a number of mantras are recited. Following this a special worship is performed. Offerings of sweets, flowers, rice, coconut, jaggery and coins are made to the God.
The statue is also anointed with red chandan powder. Prayers are offered to Lord Ganesha every day during the festival. Temples devoted to Lord Ganesha also organise special events and prayers. Those who have a Ganesha statue in their house treat and care for him as a much loved guest.
During the 11 days, they give out food, clothing, scholastics and other essential items to needy people.
They believe that they will receive blessings for their families by doing charity and praying to their god during this season. This is because according to their culture, blessings come from helping such needy people and communities. The association also does charity work in needy communities such as orphanages and old people’s homes and they are now moving to rural government-aided schools to supply scholastic materials.

End of journey
Last Sunday, as they wound up their prayers, they trekked from Emerald Hotel on Bombo Road where they had been feeding 400 people daily, to Entebbe Botanical Beach where they immersed the clay statue of Lord Ganesha in the lake. Along the way, they distributed food, clothes and drinks to people they met on Entebbe road.