Long-drawn celebrations and festivities are a part of India’s social and cultural fabric. Among the vibrant festivals that India celebrates throughout the year, a significant religious occasion is Ganesh Chaturthi, which is a prolonged celebration, and which marks the birth of the elephant-headed god, Lord Ganesha, who is the remover of obstacles, and is also known to be the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune. Celebrated by the Lunar Calendar and observed with much zeal, Ganesh Chaturthi is a day to invoke Lord Ganesha.
The Silicon family too celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi for the first time this year. With immense support and enthusiasm from the management, the rocking HR team planned a splendid 9-day event to celebrate a grand Ganesh Chaturthi. They divided the personnel at Silicon IT Hub into 7 groups and each group was allocated a particular day for performing the aarti and making arrangements for the prasad, which would be a unique delicacy.
The celebrations began with the entire team welcoming an eco-friendly idol of Lord Ganesha with a grand procession with the sound of drums resonating in the background, followed by a customary prayer, traditionally known as the aarti, and prasad.
For the days of the festivities, Lord Ganesha was offered with sweets, coconut, flowers, and fruits, etc. Dressed in traditional attire every day, the entire Silicon family religiously performed aarti in the morning and eagerly waited for the clock to strike to 7 o’clock in the evening, as they were enthusiastic to watch the surprise that would await them from the group that would perform the aarti on that particular day. Each passing day reminded us of the bond we share as a family.
The 7th day of the celebrations was the most awaited day. The team performing the aarti on that day planned to get themselves decked in traditional attire of blue or yellow color, teamed with a turban. They organized a Maha aarti, wherein 5 aarti’s were performed, and panchamrut, kumkum, flowers, and a unique prasad was offered to Lord Ganesha and later distributed among the entire team.
A grand annakoot was planned for the day of idol immersion, wherein 56 dishes from the traditional cuisine were prepared by everyone and served as a prasad. The First 8 days passed real quick and finally came the 9th day of the idol immersion.
The immersion ceremony is another awe-inspiring affair, wherein devotees take the idol of Lord Ganesha in a joyous procession with thumping music in the background and the devotees dancing to the beats of the music, while throwing coloured powder called gulal on each other and performing a final aarti and a prayer to Lord Ganesha requesting him to pay a visit to his devotees again in the following year, before immersing the idol in water.
After performing the aarti, followed by a glorious procession, with a heavy heart, the Silicon family immersed the idol of the Lord in a steel bucket, for it to dissolve by itself. Immersion of the idol of Lord Ganesha reminds us of the omnipresent nature of God. After the idol immersion, the Siliconians had a gala time dancing and enjoying a feast at the annakoot, wherein everyone sat together and enjoyed the traditional delicacies that were prepared for the annakoot.
All of this wouldn’t have been possible without the active participation of the dynamic employees at Silicon since they contributed valuable inputs on making the event a blockbuster. The Silicon family is eagerly looking forward to celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi with much more pomp and zeal in the years to come, as festivals are those occasions that help us gel better with our colleagues.
Special thanks to the management for giving us the opportunity to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi with our peers. It was indeed overwhelming to be a part of all the fun and frolic and treasure the memories that everyone gathered.