ganesh festival in india

My last post on India! I must tell you (the short version) about the Ganesh Festival.

The Ganesh, an elephant headed god, is believed to be the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune in India. Celebrated at the beginning of September, the streets are filled with devotees and lots of music, singing and merriment. Every home has a Ganesh…big ones, medium ones, little ones. Elaborate ones are built in every neighborhood. This is a very big deal.

The celebration lasts for ten days and every ganesh is part of a procession that leads to the nearest body of water. The statue is then submerged into the water to symbolize the god going back to his home and taking with him all the misfortunes of his followers. (And yes, they all remain in the water.)

For Hyderabad the nearest body of water just happened to be very near our hotel. So guess who participated? I’ll let the photos speak for themselves. What fun!