Indian idol

This Ganesh festival, community members tell us what it means to welcome the elephant-headed god in their homes and hearts

Kavita Mistry Harris Park

When we lived in Mumbai, we never celebrated Ganesh festival, but after coming here in 2005, we felt that we should do it. The main aim for us to start this celebration was to let our kids know what Indian culture and festivals are all about, and to let them experience the essence of bringing Bappa home, doing the daily aarti and giving him offerings. We have Bappa at home for ve days and we perform daily aarti in the afternoon and evening and offer fresh-cooked bhog both the times. This is a full meal like poori, sabzi, dal, rice and sweet for anyone who visits for darshan.

Sachin and Kalyani Wakhare Ashfield

We’re from Mumbai, where Ganesh Chaturthi is the biggest and most signi cant festival. Since we moved to Sydney in 2003, it was dearly missed. So, we started celebrating this festival since 2008. A couple of years ago, one of our family friends coined the name Ash eld Cha Raja, a play on Mumbai’s most popular Ganesh called Lalbagh Cha Raja, and the name has stuck. Every year, our older daughter loves to come up with decoration themes. This year, it was Australia and its famous icons, all created using recycled materials. Even the process of planning and decorating is a lovely bonding and fun lled family exercise.

Harshala and Rahul Totade Ingleburn

Lord Ganesha is a god of art and talent. Being an artist and a Kathak performer, Ganesh has always been my favourite god. From the time our son was born ve years ago, we have been following our family tradition of bringing Lord Ganesh to our home every year for ve days during the festival. We invite our families and friends for Bappa’s prayers, aarti followed by mahaprasad (lunch and dinner). Our family and especially our son Raadhesh enjoys Bappa’s pooja and the holy atmosphere a lot.

Nitin Ramani, St Leonard’s

We celebrated Ganesh festival in a unique and ecofriendly way by making the idol out of wheat our. Along with celebrating our rich culture and traditions, the ecofriendly idol symbolises the fact that we can also celebrate festivals in a way that is in synergy with our environment.

Surendra Wagh Baulkham Hills

I am a retired person and like to sketch drawings of Lord Ganesh. I feel that celebrating the festival in Australia is important for the future generations. It is up to us to keep the tradition alive so that the youngsters don’t forget their roots.