Indian festivals and their evolution: How eco- friendly Ganesh Chaturthi celebration symbolizes New India

India. What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of it? The Culture? The Contrasting Colors? The Food? The festivals? Sure, these are few of the things that come to mind. But what surprises foreigners and many Indians in general, is the number of festivals and types of celebrations that one gets to witness.

We have festivals like Shivratri, Ganesh Chaturthi, Holi, Dusshera that exhibit our range of celebrations. From Delhi to Mumbai, Kolkata, everywhere people celebrate these festivals with a lot of fervor and enthusiasm. However, very few nations can demonstrate this kind of symbolism in modern times — a testament to our diversity and uniqueness.

Today we shed light on one of India's greatest festivals i.e. Ganesh Chaturthi Vinayaka Chaviti. We all know how enthusiastically people celebrate our beloved elephant-headed Lord Ganesha's festival, but very few would have knowledge about its significance. As per our traditional belief system, the festival celebrates the arrival of Ganesha to earth from Kailash Parvat with his mother goddess Parvati/ Gauri.

Known as the God of wealth, sciences, knowledge and wisdom, most Hindus always seek Lord Ganesha's blessings before starting any important work. The main essence of Ganesh Chaturthi is that devotees who pray to him are set free of the sins and it leads them on the path of knowledge and wisdom.

Our religion and cultural values have stood the test of time. In spite of several invasions, our values remained strong as ever. Both the British and Sultanate invasions couldn't understand that it's not a single school of thought like theirs but an amalgamation of several philosophies. It' is not dependent on a single book, scripture, god or principle, says Sanjay Dalmia, a renowned nationalist and Chairman of Dalmia Group.

As Lord Ganesha is known to remove all obstacles in the pursuit of an objective, we should also remove all obstacles that come in the way of our life goals, added Vijay Kuppa, Co- founder at Orowealth. Such is the power of Ganpati that people from all walks of life believe in him.

With increasing environmental awareness over the years, people of India have become more conscious and have started celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi in an environmental friendly way. As per the recent trends, Bappa's murti is made with chocolate, natural items, so that it can be used to feed poor people.

With India advancing towards eco-friendly ways, it is important that every celebration is in sync with the principle. This year, let's celebrate the festival with an environment friendly Bappa.

"Bolo Ganpati Bappa Morya"!