What are the steps that one can take to avail of the maximum benefit from the public celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi?

The concept of ritualistic worship of the Ganesh idol: The public should understand the facts about the deity, the rites and the festival and the organisers and people together should act to fulfill these objectives. The concepts about the festival should not be restricted to mere ritualistic worship of the idol, but development of faith and devotion.

The number of organising committees should be limited: The rule should be `one idol per village' or in a city `one idol per ward'.

The idol should be such that it absorbs the Ganesh principle: Last year in Kolhapur and Margao the Ganesh idol worshipped in the public celebrations were in the form of Saints, Swami Samarth of Akkalkot and Saibaba of Shirdi, respectively. In Kalyan, on the station road there was an organising committee, which had created a Ganesh idol from medical appliances. The trunk was made from syringes, the ears from kidney trays, the crown from saline bottles, the hands from gloves and the eyes from capsules.

    According to the Science of Spirituality every deity is a specific principle. According to the doctrine of Spirituality sound, touch, form, taste, odour and energy coexist. Thus the form of the deity should be such that it is able to attract maximum frequencies of the deity, which is worshipped. If this doctrine is not followed while making the idol, the frequencies of the deity do not consecrate the idol, and the worshipper is not benefited by its ritualistic worship. Today, it is noticed that many a times the Ganesh idols are sculpted without considering these facts. Worship of such idols is wrong. According to the science of idols, an idol of Ganapati should have one tooth and four arms. The three hands should hold a noose, a goad and a tooth, respectively, and the fourth should be in a posture endowing blessings. The belly should be large and the flag should adorn a symbol of a mouse on it. The ears of the idol should be like sifting pans, and the deity should be seated on a throne with a crown.

The ritualistic worship: The idol should be worshipped ritualistically in sixteen steps everyday with spiritual emotion knowing the motive behind each ritual.

Take care to preserve the sanctity of the festival! : The organizing committee of the festival should take care to preserve the sanctity of the festival. Various facets of how this can be done is by keeping the pandal clean, maintaining a pleasant atmosphere and avoiding playing loud, blaring music on the loudspeaker. Devotional songs should be played instead. Slippers should be arranged systematically in a row on one side of the pandal.

How should the Ganesh festival organising committee function?

1. They should plan the programs that they will organize.
2. After preparing an estimate of the expenditure to be incurred for such a programs, it should be placed before the members of the committee.
3. The collection of funds should be done collectively.

Organizing committees should decide the code of conduct for the festival: In Mumbai today there exist committees that decide the code of conduct to be observed by those participating in the festival. These committees truly do some good work.

Programs organized for the Ganesh festival:

Undesirable: 1. Screening of movies depicting violence, corruption and sexuality. 2. Organization of orchestras, which cause noise pollution. 3. Honoring of volunteers who had worked for the success of the festival. 4. A display of fireworks.

Entertainment programs which inculcate patriotism are desirable: It is almost a 100 years since the commencement of the practice of group worship of Ganesh Chaturthi but still the social scenario is exactly as described by Lokmanya. The Hindus are still not united. Society is deeply impressed by Western culture. As a result the aims of Lokmanya behind the public celebration of the Ganesh festival still hold good. It is an excellent medium to rejuvenate religious practices and create social awareness. The entertainment programs should depict national interests more than serving as a mere pastime. Some examples of such programs are cited below. A. Music: Inspirational and devotional songs should be played and programs of singers who view music as their spiritual practice can be organized. B. Lectures: Lectures by authorities from the nearby villages in various public spheres like consumer redressal, finance, education, defense, international events, public distribution system of ration, police, the Zilla parishad, etc., should be organized. C. Religious discourses: These should be on the topics of Spirituality, religion, God, Guru, disciple, saints, etc., which impart knowledge about Righteousness (Dharma). D. Discussions: Discussions that address the social problems should be organized. Two or more experts should be invited so as to explain the social problems through a question-answer session. E. Plays: They should be on the subjects of national integration, patriotism and social issues and local artists should be given preference to play the roles in it. F. Competitions: They should be in the field of oratory, poetry or story telling. G. Honoring of virtuous people: True social workers, retired artists, sportsmen, meritorious students, those worthy of bravery awards and honest committees should be honored. H. Social causes: This should include scholarships and provision of books to needy students, help to poor patients, help to those struck by catastrophe, contribution to national savings, assistance to educational organisations. Discourses are a must for cultural and social awakening. Other programs should be intellectual, those providing guidance about service to the nation, one act play competitions on national issues and poster contests for local students on local problems and contests in drawing cartoons. Painting exhibitions and programs of classical music may also be organized.

Expenditure of funds obtained: At least 30% of the funds accumulated should be spent on religious rites and the spread of Spirituality. Some illustrations are given below.

Presently the help provided for such causes is minimal.

Expenditure incurred by the organizing committee of a religious festival is roughly as given below:

The immersion procession:

	To overcome the ill effects of the immersion various social groups have suggested the following: 1. Instead of worshipping 10-12 feet tall idols by groups, they should use small idols. 2. To avoid the tremendous pollution caused by plaster of paris and paint, idols of paper mache can be used. 3. If flowers, aghada and harla plants and such other substances are collected and buried in the soil instead of immersion in the water, then they will produce good manure. 4. A Ganapati idol should be immersed only in flowing water, not in a pond, lake or canal.
	The immersion processions of today are but a stigma to the festival. The organisers should bear in mind that they are representing their organisation before the society in the village or city. That is why its volunteers should create a good image about it in the minds of the public. This is an opportunity, which organizers may not get in the near future so they should make best use of it in the interests of the public. That is precisely why the procession should highlight our ancient traditional wealth and should be able to generate faith, love and a sense of respect for itself among the masses. Some suggestions regarding the processions: A. The procession should begin on time and should end (before sunset) on time. B. Regulations should be observed. C. Discipline should be maintained. D. A pleasant and sattvik (sattva predominant) atmosphere should be maintained. E. The scenes created should depict social awakening and pursuit of social issues. F. Musical instruments like the drum, loudspeakers should be played softly. G. The roadside dances should include traditional ones with umbrellas as an insignia of royalty (chatra chamar), lezhim, etc., and a procession of flags (dindi). H. A tilak of vermilion (kumkum) should be applied instead of gulal (colored powder). I. Arguments and discords should be avoided. J. Dance with awkward gesticulations should not be allowed. K. It should be devoid of addicts. L. Youths should be encouraged to take care of women and children in the procession. M. If an antisocial element is found then he should be handed over to the police.
	The immersion should be done at high tide: When immersion is done at low tide on the seashore, later when the high tide sets in along with the waves in the high tide, broken parts of the idols and the dried flowers, etc., accompanying it reach the shore. On the contrary if done at high tide it reaches the seabed.
	Some people have suggested that that day should be declared a dry day by the Government to prevent people in the procession from indulging in drinking. So also social awareness about the ill effects of colors like gulal on health should be created.