Members of a band play drums as an idol of Lord Ganesha is being taken for installation, the dancing feet on the floor, loud ballads of Lord Ganesh - all of this gives evidence that Ganesh Chaturthi has just begun.
The festival celebrates Lord Ganesha as the God of New Beginnings and the Remover of Obstacles as well as the god of wisdom and intelligence. The celebration comes to an end after 10 days when people come out in large numbers for immersing the idols in the sea or in different water bodies.
Amid so many big idols, here's an idol of Lord Ganesha made from the shell of Buddha Coconut tree on the eve of Ganesha Chaturthi festival, in Bengaluru. The festival is celebrated all over the country by commoners, celebrities, industrialists and politicians, housing complexes, private and public companies.
A sand sculpture of Lord Ganesha made by artist Sudarsan Pattnaik, on a beach in Puri.
"Tree Ganesha" is an Idol that is made of red soil, organic fertilizer, natural colour and seeds. This unique idol is designed by artisan Dattadri Kothur and the most striking feature of the idol is the fact that it has a seed inside and can be grown into a plant by pouring water after immersion.
The festival sees devotees offering to the deity various sweets as prasad, of which 'modak' is an integral part. But this Ludhiana bakery had different ideas. It is their third year of making Chocolate Lord Ganesha. It took 10 days, 20 chefs & 65 kgs of chocolate for making the Chocolate Ganapati. Fun fact is that instead of the Sea, they will dip it in Milk & serve it to poor and starving kids.
Students perform mass 'Puja' at Swaraswati Bidya Mandir on occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi festival, in Bhubaneswar.
Devotees offer prayers during the Sinjara celebration on the eve of Ganesh Chaturthi, at Moti Dungri temple in Jaipur.
Immersion of Ganesha idols will be taken up in phases and the grand send-off would be on September 23.