Ganesha Chaturthi is celebrated on the birth anniversary of Ganesha who is the God of Obstacles also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, Gajamukha and Vighneswara. Hindus revere Ganesha and before beginning any work seek the blessings of Ganesha by invoking his name, "Om Ganeshaya Namah". This is believed to keep away all obstacles and ensure smooth progress of the project at hand. Ganesha is the son of Parvati, Shiva's wife. Parvati is said to have created Ganesha out of the sandalwood paste that she used to apply on her body. After breathing life into him she asked him to guard the door and not to let anyone come inside. A little while later Shiva came and Ganesha, as he was instructed to do, stopped Shiva from entering the house. Shiva lost his temper and chopped off Ganesha's head. Parvati was distraught at Ganesha's death and demanded that he be brought back to life. Shiva granted her wish and put the head of an elephant on the dead body of Ganesha and breathed life into it. This is the legend behind the elephant head of Ganesha. The festival is celebrated with great pomp and show in Maharashtra. Idols of Ganesha are taken out in a procession and ultimately immersed in water. In Mumbai, the idols are immersed in the sea, in Hyderabad, the idols are submerged in the Husain Sagar Lake.
During the freedom struggle this festival became a major consolidating force as it was used by freedom fighter Balgangadhar Tilak to mobilise people to defy the colonial government's prohibition of public meetings. The preparation for this festival begins months in advance. Images of Ganesha are installed and elaborate arrangements are made for the 7-8 days that the celebrations go on. On Chaturthi, all the processions and people carrying the idols of Ganesha go to the beaches of Mumbai to immerse the holy idols in the sea according to the Hindu custom. Another interesting feature of the festival is that devotees are forbidden to look at the moon on that day as the moon had laughed at Ganesha when he fell from his vehicle, the rat.
The people chant "Ganesh Maharaj Ki Jai!" and "Ganpati bappa morya" wghile accompanying the idol on its way to the immersion and request the god to return the next year to bless them.

Where: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.