Vinayaka Chaturthi or Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations end with the immersion or Visarjan of clay Ganapati idol in water. Hindus worship Brahman or the Supreme Soul present in all animate and inanimate. But for majority of the people it is not possible to worship this formlessness. They 
need a form to pray to, to seek help, to cry and to take blessings. Ganesha is ‘
Clay and water is mixed to give form to the formlessness. Each person brings Ganesha in clay idol form into the home. This is the Supreme Being arriving at home. After the celebrations, it is 
time to accept the eternal cosmic law that which took form has to become formless again. It is a never ending cycle (Chakra).
The formlessness giving way to form and then moving again towards formlessness. Each year Ganesha arrives to teach us that forms change but the Supreme Truth remains the same. Body perishes but Brahman residing in it remains constant. This body becomes energy for another but the source of energy is the same. Bliss is achieved when we realize this.
The act also symbolizes the concept of Moksha, or liberation, in Hinduism. Osho says – ‘Absolute unclinging. That is what is meant by Moksha – freedom – no clinging, not even to gods.’ Thus we create Ganesha out of clay, worship it and later it is submerged (Visarjan).
Important: Use only clay Ganesh idol and please do not throw plastic in water. Perform a symbolic immersion in a bucket of water and then use it to water plants.
45 comments:
Abhilash, Thanks for providing very logical explanation of Ganesh Visarjan. Visarjan = transforming God from Sagun Saakar to Nirgun Nirakar.
This piece of article on the significance of immersing the idol is truly an eye opener. I have asked many Hindus as to why they worship Ganesha for 10 days and then immerse in water. But no one could tell me reason behind it. I think we (read all religions) all should know the reason and logic behind every traditional customs we follow. Only then we can make our children follow our traditions and value them.
Sir Your Article is super By Logically & Speritually.
Your article is really an eye-opener and I thank you for such a wonderful knowledge sharing. Thank you!
Its true that when we know the reason behind something, its easier to follow it. I truly believe that all of us should find out the logic behind our customs and traditions.
Thanks for Giving a good reason for immersion.
Thank you sir for this information, even in this age of Google, I could not find anywhere the explanation for Ganesha nimajjan easily. Your blog provides very nice explanation.
thank you for a wonderful explanation. I promise to pass it to as many children as possible as i happen to be a teacher and i sincerely hope that they can somehow learn and contribute to saving the environment.
Why is ganapathi immersed in water...
Abilash,
Thanks - I have another query - why are the immersion dates like 1 and 1/2 days, 3 days, 5 days....od number ...? what is the logic ?
Regards
This is the best blog I have ever seen on Hinduism.
Thanks for all the information on here.
As far as I know I would like to share / add as below:
An annual festival honours Ganesha for ten days, starting on Ganesh Chaturthi, which typically falls in late August or early September. The festival culminates on the day of Ananta Chaturdashi, when images / murtis of Ganesha are immersed in the most convenient body of water.
In 1893, Lokmanya Tilak transformed this annual Ganesha festival from private family celebrations into a grand public event. He did so To bridge the gap between the Brahmins and the non-Brahmins and find an appropriate context in which to build a new grassroots unity between" in his nationalistic strivings against the British in Maharashtra. Because of Ganesha's wide appeal as "the god for Everyman", Tilak chose him as a rallying point for Indian protest against British rule.[133] Tilak was the first to install large public images of Ganesha in pavilions, and he established the practice of submerging all the public images on the tenth day. Hindus across India celebrate the festival with great fervour, though it is most popular in the state of Maharashtra spl MUMBAI.
KUMAR DAVE
PUNE
thanks yaar...it was really interestng 2 know d actual fact behing visarjan..i was lookng for it
This is the best blog I have seen on Hindu culture. thank you for a exccellent explanation.Hat up to your explanation.I impressed about it.
We have all seen what happens to our LORD idols after immersion. I am sure no HINDU will ever get any bliss when he sees what happens to our LORD after immersion.
Cant we pray to the picture and retain that for worship year after year ? Why should we create the idol and then immerse it - if you have the LOVE for the LORD then you should feel the pain when you immerse - GANESH VISARJAN or any LORD idol VISARJAN should be stopped. Please please please understand more than what has been done for many decades. Let us go beyond and do things that makes more sense and cause no harm to anyone and nor to the ECO WORLD.
Lokmanya Tilak had started this practice to build the unity amongst the Indians to fight for freedom - the British would not allow them to celebrate this indefinitely and that is why Tilak thought it best to end the festival on the 10th day - this practice began to build the unity amongst the Indians to fight for freedom. The freedom has been obtained but the practice continued without anyone reaslising that now there is no need to END the Festival.
Those who BELIEVE in the LORD will BRING the LORD to their place - those who bring the LORD will have LOVE for the LORD - those who have LOVE For the LORD will worship the LORD and worship and worshoip - where is the time and need to do the VISARJAN then .......
Dear Hindu.... think,think and think and feel before you act or follow what others do.
LORD Shiva granted the boon to Ganesha that he will be worshipped before any other GOD is worshipped .... what would the GOD think of us when we immerse the same GOD as we have worshipped for 10 days .... GOD believes in NO FORMALITIES .... we have to be normal and not formal ....if you want to worship, you can worship the LORD even by singing Bhajans and serving the poor .... but today , many of us worship the LORD and have a great show that increases year after year...what do we do different that will show our LOVE for the LORD is ETERNAL and EVERLASTING ....
If you wished to be BLESSED by the LORD forever then why worship the LORD only for 10 days ....
Dear Abhilash,
Ur blog constantly teaches me sumthing new about Hindutva. My family are firm beleivers in Gannu but until now I always found it very very hard to explain my son the importance of visarjan, which made him sad every year...u made my life easier.
Thanks.
can you please advise any pooja before visarjan
I have brought ganesh ji in my home.. please please suggest what to do before visarjan am completely illiterate any special pooja
hello abhilash please I have to do visarjan tomorrow please help
@ reeta...you can perform a simple puja. An Arati of Ganesha, offer him a modak or a fruit and you can say good bye to him. There are no complex pujas at home while performing visarjan ceremony.
Very clear explanation about form & formlessness. Hindu beliefs have always resonated with me, but I am still learning so much more now in recent years. I'm looking forward to reading more of your blog.
Ganesh worship is acceptable to people of all faiths as remover of obstacles, if understood properly. As we know all gods speak the same language of love and freedom/moksa. Let us include all and encourage all to come together! Some mandals are doing it successfully. We could make it a common festival of love, unity and blessing to India. And of course an ecofriendly celebration educating people to promote love and unity!
I got a Ganesha in the form of apple and I am perofrming puja everydaysince last month purnima in Uk
Hi, But then why ONLY Ganesh..why not other Gods immersed
Could you tell me the source of your understanding..is it mentioned in some old scripture?..that will really help
god is spirit and true god doesnt need to take existence in the form of mud. god is one who has forgiven our sins and he wants us to be as holy and him. yes it is difficult to be holy and not to make mistakes . but the god is so loving that he has given us a spirit which will help us to win over temptation. but how often do we listen to the spirit?
Usually Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated along with Gowri his mother who gave him birth and re+birth. I had another valid reason for Immersing lord ganesha in water and i would like to share it with u all. Water represents "Ganga" who is also a mother to Ganesha. Hence, he the celebration is with one mother and the other one embrases him into her.
I want to know about this celebration. why is it celebrated and who actually started this ? one of the comments was disturbing " god is one who has forgiven our sins" , do you mean people who kill, are also forgiven by God then why is it a sin ?
Other thing i want to know in Hinduism, is there a god for everything. Like for Rain, for Water, for What else, don't take me wrong but i want to understand the concept.
Hi there i wanted to study about the religion but i always keep hearing that Hinduism is the oldest religion.
But when i searched for the word Hindu religion, the word or the name Hindu was given by the arab traders. so what was the name of religion before naming it Hindu ?
Why is it that north and south indians have different GODS ? if it is the same religion.
The true name of Hindu religion is Sanatana Dharma.
In Hinduism all living and nonliving are manifestation of the supreme truth. So everything is God.
dear srinivas, if everything is God, then what is the definition of God in sanatana dharma.
why the people of sanatana dharma call themselves Hindus. why have the change in name of religion accepted by the whole community?
Another question as you say all living and nonliving are maifestation of supreme truth and based on that everything is god, means you can preach anything ?
This blog is getting interesting. I am doing some research on different religions.
i want to confirm is veda's considered to be the book for All hindus and is it considered to be a book which came from GOD. ?
wish u AL a vry hapy n peaceful ustav May Lord Ganesha acept ur gud deeds, 4giv ur transgr
essions n ease d suffering of al ppl arund d globe
we use to see Ganesha was fat, but now we are seeing it as a body builder.
why hindu scripture has scientific errors. ???
Good explanation.Thank you, a new Sankarcharya's wisdom is there.Please let me know the word visarjan is in Marathi or Sanskrit
This is the.first time I'm keeping Ganpati!! At home, yr blog made it very easy for me. Thaks!!! Ganpati bappa morya!!!
This is the first time i m keeping ganpati at home.my ganpati is made of porsline .can i stay ganpati at home after pooja
Yes you can keep Ganpati at home. Just sprinkle water on the murti at the end of Ganpati puja - this is a symbolic way of immersion.
Thank you for ur insightful comments sir.
indeed we have a specific demigod(deva or devi) for each and everythin like rain, sun, air. Just like we have individual ministers for each main facilities provided by the Government. God has 330 000 000 demigods serving. The vedas and other vedic scriptures gives us all these details
e.g :
Suryadev is in Charge o the Sun
Indra is in charge of rain
Vayu is in charge of air.. etc
Interesting to know why we immerse Lord Ganesha after Ganesh Chaturthi
These details were very useful in clarifying the meaning behind the ritual. Thanks for sharing it.
may lord ganesha except your prayers
Its very good to know about the importance of formless.
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