How is Gaṇeśotsava kept in Maharashtra — 1½, 5, 7 or 10 days?

Gaṇapati is installed on Gaṇeśa Caturthī and sent off after the number of days the family traditionally keeps, at most till Ananta Caturdaśī.

On Bhādrapada Śukla Caturthī, a clay murti is brought home to drums and cries of “Gaṇapati Bāppā Moryā!”, and prāṇa-pratiṣṭhā is done. Each family keeps Bāppā for its customary length, one and a half, five, seven or ten days, ending on Ananta Caturdaśī. Gauri, his mother, arrives in many Marathi homes for three days during the festival.

Every morning and evening the family sings āratīs, most famously “Sukhakartā Dukhahartā”, and offers ukadiche modak, Bāppā’s favourite steamed sweet, with twenty-one dūrvā blades. Neighbours visit for darśana and prasāda. Public sārvajanik maṇḍals, popularised in the 1890s by Lokmānya Tilak as community gatherings, add music, lectures and service.

At visarjan the family asks forgiveness for any lapse and invites Bāppā to “come early next year”, “pudhchyā varṣī lavkar yā”. Choose an eco-friendly śāḍū-clay murti and immerse it at home or at an artificial tank where possible.

Āratī: “Sukhakartā Dukhahartā” · Source: common practice in Maharashtrian households

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