Ganesh Chaturthi will be celebrated by the Marathis of Mauritius on Thursday. Most of those celebrating this religious festival, who have been fasting and praying for one month, are busy with the last preparations. Some families have been making their statuettes that they will immerse in Grand-Bassin lake after a long procession throughout the island while others have been preparing offerings for Lord Ganesh.

Festivities will start as from tomorrow. The Shri Marathi Dharmic Sabha will hold a national celebration at 4 p.m at Camp Bombaye in Vacoas in collaboration with the Mauritius Marathi Mandali Federation. A cultural programme will be presented on that occasion. The Maratha Mandir has announced that it will celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi over ten days – from 7th to 17th September. A calendar has been established to mark the festival.

Ganesh Charturthi is the occasion where all Marathis pay tribute to Lord Ganesh. Legend says that Ganesh was Shiva’s and Parvati’s son. When Shiva decided to go away for some time to meditate in the Himalaya, his wife Parvati created Ganesh to protect her. She ordered him not to let anyone into the house.

But when her husband came back, he was furious to see that someone was preventing him from entering his own house and he beheaded the child. Parvati was so sad that she implored Shiva to give life to the child again. As an elephant was passing by, he took its head off and put it on the child’s body. This is how Ganesh was born. This divinity represents intelligence and is known to abolish obstacles.