Ganpati Bappa Moraya: Part Six

Day Five: Ganpati Bappa Visarjan (23.09.2023)

It's pleasant to see the shoe flowers blooming in the morning, last night these buds were kept in water. The day started with poha breakfast. Today we recited 17 aaratis from 10am in the morning so that each member of the family gets a chance for the dhup-aarati. 

At 10:45am, we decided to visit the Hanuman Mandir on the outskirts of the village. We had to walk upwards on the steep road. 

Done with the worship, we got back home at noon. The common aarati was performed and we had lunch. The final aarati at home was done by 4:15pm and then the final photo session with Bappa continued till 5pm. The idol was moved from the table to the floor at 5pm, the ornaments were removed and we left the home with the idol at 5:15pm. 

Now I got to know that all the shadu ganpati idols will be immersed in the pond created by the waterfall which we saw yesterday, while the PoP ganpati idols will go to the river bank like yesterday. Out of the 21 idols, two were PoP so there were taken to the river by a tempo. All  others queued up at the uphill trail and moved in a slow traffic. 

The common firecrackers, dance and banjo were at the starting point of the ganpati visarjan procession. All the idols were kept on the ground at 5:25pm and a final common aarati was performed for our beloved Bappa. 

Post this, we had to removed the flower garland and anything else used for decoration. It has to be just Bappa, the way we brought him home. It was from the point of view of not flooding the pond with flowers and garlands. The final walk started at 5:40pm towards the pond and people had to take their idols and walk into the pond, the water was at waist level. 

All the idols were immersed thrice and hence the Ganpati Bappa Visarjan can completed at 6pm. Well it was such an emotional moment for me to say goodbye to him. We came back home with the empty paat. 

Today we had an early dinner and started with the packing of bags. Granny was giving vegetables from her kitchen garden, rice grains and coconuts, etc. It rained heavily that night, even my heart was raining in emotions. The much needed and unplanned vacation was over. The next day started in hustle and bustle and finishing off with the packing. We had idli breakfast and then lunch. Now again a tiring bus journey from 5pm on 24th Sept till 9am on 25th Sept. But atleast the driver gave us pitstop for dinner and washroom break. There was ofcourse traffic all the way since a lot of people were returning. Finally the ganesh festival was celebrated successful and I witnessed the village version of it!!