The GSB Seva Mandal is one of the largest Sarvajanik (public) Ganapati celebrations in Mumbai. The murthy is 14 ft tall and all pujas ( devotional services) are performed in Sanskrit following traditions prescribed in ancient scriptures. See pics from our 2009 visit here.
This year more than a million visitors lined up for darshan. Meals were served to more that a 100,000 devotees over the five days of this festival. For scale, the length of the ear from top to bottom is 3 ft and the pearl stringers decorating the ear are 22 inches tall.
During this visit, we also performed Meera’s Tolay-Bhaar, where Meera gets weighed in bananas.
The Gana-Homa (Yagna or Havan) is a sacred service performed during this festival. In thanks for divine munificence, devotees offer puffed rice mixed with jaggery through the medium of fire. More than 2,500 Gana-Homams were performed this year.
Click here for larger version on ArunEyes.
My previous Ganapati posts
- Ganapati & Gauri Puja 2010
- Ganesh Chaturthi – Preparations from the Day Before
- Video: Best of Mumbai Ganapati Street Dancing
- Ganapati Visarjan: Wadala and Lalbaug cha Raja
- Ganesh Chaturthi 2009
- Ganesh Chaturthi 2008
- Ganesh Chaturthi 2007
- Ganapati Bappa 2005
- Saraswati Lakshmi & Ganapati
Ganapati Flower Sellers:
- Flower Sellers at Matunga
- Dadar Flower Market during Ganapati – 2002
- Flowers Sellers at Dadar – 2009
Arun Shanbhag 