State of Current Public Ganesh Celebrations outside India
	State of Current Public Ganesh Celebrations in India

    People from all walks of life, including sculptors of the Ganesh idols, express the view that today, although the festival includes all the rituals, it lacks devotion and spiritual emotion. The celebrations are more of cultural rather than of spiritual nature.

   Lack of understanding of the spiritual significance of the festival has led to lack of faith and devotion in performing the celebrations. One obtains maximum benefits from a ritual if it is performed with faith and intense devotion. One can perform rituals with most faith when one understands the science behind the rituals and performs them in accordance with spiritual principles. Otherwise, one forgoes the invaluable spiritual benefits like the indescribable experience of the Deity’s (Lord Ganesh’s) presence, inner peace (Shanti), Bliss (Anand), etc., from the celebration.

State of Current Public Ganesh Celebrations outside India

	Indians or Hindus outside India tend to view public celebrations of Hindu festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi, Navratra, Divali, etc., as more of cultural/social events than religious ones. It is seen as an opportunity to getting in touch with the local Indian community, to dress in Indian garments and jewelry that one does not get to use frequently, watch some Indian films and locally produced children’s and other plays/dances, etc. It is an effort to re-live the social customs from back “home” in India.
	Neither attendees nor organizers are truly aware of the spiritual significance of the festival; hence, the spiritual benefit from it is not attained. Rituals do not begin on time, loud music is played, attendees are found mostly talking about their worldly achievements instead of being focused on deriving spiritual benefit through sevabhav, reciting Lord Ganesh’s hymns, chanting mentally and trying to feel Lord Ganesh’s presence in a sattvik, tranquil atmosphere.
	Children are found playing in front of the idol, sometimes running around in the hall even with shoes on. There is no awareness that the idol can be activated with actual presence of Lord Ganesh if we treat it reverentially and behave in a reverent and devotional manner in the function.
	Cultural programs of songs and dance instead of religious discourses are arranged. Since there the science behind the rituals is not imparted, attendees, especially children do not participate in it whole-heartedly and feel alienated towards the religion.

    Any ritual is done to invoke that deity’s (in this case, Lord Ganesh’s) presence at that place, but if a non-religious and social atmosphere prevails during the ritual, naturally, the deity (Lord Ganesh) will not manifest in that place. Thus, we hardly derive any spiritual benefit of that deity’s presence from the celebration, despite organizing it and participating in it with much effort, expense and time taken from our busy schedules.

State of Current Public Ganesh Celebrations in India

    The main aim of making Ganesh Chaturthi a public celebration by Lokmanya Tilak was to unite the youth of the country in national interests. The youth were expected to get an experience of the social causes and continue the educational, political and social tasks. Today, more than ever, India needs a revival in thinking and acting unitedly on national security, financial stability, etc., by rooting out internal corruption, rising terrorism, and general instability in all regions of the country and walks of life.

Current Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations itself reflect the disunited and corrupt state of the country. The main reason behind the failure to achieve the desired spiritual benefits is that the committees, which organize these festivals themselves, slur the basic motive behind celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi. If someone develops a discord with another in the festival committee, he forms a new group to compete with the previous one. This is not in keeping with the idea of unity and work of social upliftment.

A costly celebration: Overall there is a great deal of wastage of both human resources and money. The expenditure incurred in this celebration is enormous. It involves people from the ordinary volunteer to the state police force and the coast guard personnel who have to maintain law and order, especially in a city like Mumbai, during the ceremony immersion of the idols. The expenditure incurred is in crores. In Mumbai alone there are more than 3,500 different groups celebrating the festival. In addition there are lakhs of idols worshipped in the homes of people. One can only imagine the total number of idols in the entire state. The expenditure on coconuts, idols, lighting, decorations, entertainment programs and processions is virtually unimaginable. Unfortunately despite that the society does not get the spiritual and social benefit in return. For the modern generation the Ganesh celebration is nothing but a farce.

Noise pollution: There is demoniacal noise pollution everywhere, from a city to a village during the festival. This causes a lot of distress to the aged, exam-going students, patients, etc.

Agonizing collection of donations: Under the pretext of Ganesh celebrations funds are collected using different modes. Coercion and cheating is frighteningly increasing. Besides asking for donations, demanding advertisements for publications of souvenirs, getting sponsors for entertainment programs and lotteries are also resorted to.

	Donations from antisocial elements: People who have accumulated money by unfair means like black marking, those polluting the environment, those selling liquor and tobacco (ghutka), try to gain prestige and cleanse themselves of their sins by donating large sums of money for the Ganesh celebrations.
	Fake lotteries: Last year in the Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra lotteries worth rupees 125 each were sold. However the results were not declared. Those who went to the organisers to inquire about the draw were refunded their money.

The programs at the Ganesh celebrations are controlled by the donors: Those who donate huge amounts for this festival try to gain mileage by advertising themselves or their products. If the function is a flop then the donor loses the chance of publicity of his product. So he aims to arrange for entertainment programs, which attracts maximum crowds. That is how orchestras, movies, etc., have gained a foothold in these functions. This is the state of affairs in many a committee celebrating the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi which are controlled by politicians and the mafia.

The nature of the program: Very often the function is far from the norms laid down by Lokmanya Tilak.

	Cheap programs
	Ordinary childish and sensuous songs are played on the loudspeaker. Vulgar movies are also screened. One cannot even imagine who could be benefited by such cheap entertainment! Such songs and films are inappropriate for playing or screening at public functions, leave aside religious ones.
	When donations are collected from distributors or producers of cigarettes, tobacco (ghutka) the entertainment are held in assistance of such donors. These people then use these programs as a medium for advertising their product and also use their influence to select the programs. Therefore indirectly such committees influence people to think that consumption of ghutka is good.

	The procession moving at a snail's pace: In 1998 in Nasik a procession consisting of about 24 Ganesh idols continued for more than 12 hours. There was a time lag of more than three and a half hours between the immersion of the first two idols.
	Police officials under tremendous pressure at the immersion procession in Pune: Last year the Ganesh immersion procession at Pune lasted for 28 hours and 25 minutes. It consisted of 1560 small groups with Ganesh idols. All efforts and appeals to end the procession fast were in vain. It was moving at a snail's pace. The record breaking time of the procession in Pune prior to this was 29 hours. Such processions are physically strenuous and mentally stressful to the police personnel. For hours the policemen are trapped in the procession. In such circumstances police are unable to take the erring people to task hence it is to the advantage of the goons who exploit the situation to the fullest. Miss Nita Hendre's father lodged a missing report at a Pune police station on 23rd September but since the police personnel were occupied in preparations for the Ganesh procession no cognizance of the complaint was taken. On the night of 24th September her dead body was found near the Svargate police line in thickly populated residential area.
	Several immersion processions: Many people organise their individual processions when they are unable to secure a prestigious position in a long one. These do not have a fixed timing and thus induces a lot of stress on the police force, especially the traffic cell.

	Disturbance to the people residing in the vicinity of the procession route: Last year the Vengurla traders association requested for a change in the route of the procession in Vengurla from the marketplace to the bus terminus because they were being harassed by application of gulal (a red coloured powder), dragged out of their shops, burning crackers were thrown into their shops and on pedestrians and they were assaulted and abused. In addition to this the party on its return from the procession had destroyed electrical appliances in the shop by pushing their hands in through slits in the showcases of the shop. This is just a small example. The proportion of such unwarranted acts of destruction occurs on quite a large scale.
	Tension caused by the procession: Last year at Surat the police were compelled to resort to firing. Several untoward incidents were reported at Hyderabad. Some of the causes for this are personal differences, political parties, casteism, etc.
	Violence in the procession: Some incidents reported in this context last year are given below. Due to an assault of a municipal councilor by another one constable lost his life. In a riot prone area due to the police resorting to firing to quell the situation 7 people were killed and 11 injured. In the Charminar area of Old Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh 3 were killed in an accident of stoning of the crowd. In the Chittur district of Andhra Pradesh at Peddakaligir during an assault on the dalit community by those of the higher castes 2 people sustained injuries. In the fights during the procession at Akkalkot a youth named Ramlinga Gaikwad lost his life.
	Some people get drunk and dance making vulgar gestures and odd sounds to the tune of film songs. This is also associated with arguments, quarrels and fights.
	Disgrace caused by negligence during the immersion: Immersion of Ganapati idols is also done in sewage canals, drinking water tanks and small ponds. This not only pollutes the small water reservoirs but also broken parts of the idols are found floating in the water for many days thereafter.
	Immersion done by contractors: Some Ganesh festival organising committees pay a fee of 5 to 10 thousand rupees and employ contractors to undertake the task of immersion of the idol to avoid the inconvenience of traveling all the way to the sea and having to wait in a queue till 1 or 2 a.m. to do the immersion.

Problems and expenses incurred in organising the procession: In Mumbai every year 70-80 thousand Ganapati idols are immersed at about 50 places. The municipality has to make about 1,900 lamps, 18-20 generators and 4 searchlights on an average, available along the coastline during that time. The traffic is totally closed on about 14 roads, 39 roads have only one way traffic, 26 have no parking areas and 10 are closed to heavy vehicular traffic in Mumbai The trees on the procession route have to be trimmed and roads have to be repaired. At Chowpatty, in Mumbai, temporary roads are constructed. All these preparations have to be commenced around a month and a half prior to the festival and an expenditure of approximately two to two and a half crores is incurred. The picture in other cities is more or less similar.

Overcrowding to be combated by the police force: The crowds gathering for the procession of immersion at Chowpatty, Mumbai are the largest in Asia. Great efforts have to be put in by the police to control the crowd. Even in neighboring cities the police force is utilized to handle significantly large crowds in its proportion. Children get lost and can also be kidnapped. Awareness of the number of such lost children needs to be created.

Losses caused by giving a social form to a religious festival: The Ganesh festival which we see today even though being a religious one, since it is given a social form it has proved detrimental to both Righteousness (Dharma) and society. Many people express that the sanctity of a religious festival should be preserved.

	Vulgar songs are played in the pandal where the Ganesh idol is consecrated.
	People who do not worship an idol at home wish to participate in such public celebrations with true devotion and spiritual emotion but are unable to derive any happiness from it due to overcrowding and unnecessary chaos and noise in the pandal, which is not conducive to such functions.
	It seems like the festival committees of today are more interested in changing religious concepts before actually comprehending them. Rituals like moving lit lamps (arti), ritualistic worship (puja), making offerings to the deity (tirtha prasad); paying obeisance to The Lord, listening to songs in praise of God (kirtan) and discourses should acquire a significant position in the celebrations. Why do we need the Ganesh festival to organise orchestras to attract crowds? Since the present day equation of this religious festival is that of entertainment it seems more logical that the function should have more of religious programs.
	For integration of the masses a sattvik (sattva predominant) religious atmosphere would be more appropriate.