As Ganesh Chaturthi celebration hours are going on, there must be endless number of people who made Ganpati Bappa seated in their home’s temple. And as Ganesh chaturthy has a ritual of immersing Ganesh idols it is important for the devotees to be aware of some rule while performing this ritual.
Usually this ceremony of immersing Ganesh’s idol takes place on the 11th day of Ganesh Chaturthi also popular as Anant Chaturdashi. But there are many people who do this on the next day, which can be third or the fifth day of Ganesh Chaturthi.
As per Hindu beliefs it is said that during Ganesh Chaturthi, Lord Ganesha visit his people residing on earth and personally listen to their prayers. This is the reason divine energy of Ganpati fall on the earth in large amount during the event. Newly bought and installed idols of lord act as anteenas receiving the energies of Lord Ganesh and thus transferring them to the people during worship hours. And this is the only reason that after the worship these installed idols are immersed making the sendoff.
As per Hindu belief, God is formless, without any attributes and is nameless. And in order to enjoy him or interact with him, or to celebrate his glories while saying prayers to him, God is invoked in pictures, idols or simply an object of worship.
Every Hindu puja begins with the invocation of God in the worshiping object so that the prayers can be accepted. After the prayers are said, there is a ritual known as Yathsthan which means offering a sendoff to the worshiped deity. This is the actual logic and spirit behind Ganesh Visarjan. Spiritually this process makes a man ready to move from the form to the formless state of Lord.
Uttar Puja is done in order to offer a farewell to Lord Ganesha just before the immersion is done. Here is the step by step procedure of doing Uttar Puja.
Enlighten a lamp near the idol and decorate it with sacred flowers. The pooja will include offerings of Sankalp (determination), Achamaniyam (water to drink), Pushpa Puja (puja with flowers), Chandanarpan(Sandal Paste), Durvarapan (Durva Grass), Nivedan (some dishes and fruit offerings), Dhoop and Deep Darshan (offering incese and camphor light), and then saying prayers or enchanting mantras and then do Aarti. It further consists of doing namaskar and moving idol a little with your right hand to conclude the uttar Puja.
Ganesh Ji’s idols are installed and worshipped during Ganesh Chaturthi in public places and homes. Once the uttar puja is done, these Ganesh idols are taken in procession with huge bands and fanfare to the water bodies. The entire crowd or the devotee throng shout the names of Ganesh in joy and make the procession a vibrant and a colourful event. The idols taken in the procession may vary in sizes, shapes and colors.
All the idols are then immersed one by one which can be either done manually or while using cranes. Basically curd rice or puffed rice is made a bundle and these are sent along with the idol as a mark of offering food for the deity to have while making the entire journey. Once the visarjan is done, some sand is gathered from the spot and sprinkled all around the home.
During Visarjan, the worshipped idols are immersed in water by the devotees. The divine energies in idols are moved to the water and then to the large universe. With this process of Visarjan, mainly three objectives of devotees are fulfilled which can be named as Saying Thanks to Ganesha for all the favours received, offering a send off to the God and sending the divine powers of the god for everyone’s benefit.
