5 Steps guide for welcoming lord Ganesha

And here is our beloved god Ganesha has arrived to shower blessings upon us .Ganesha is Lord of wisdom ,prosperity and every new work is started by worshipping him.The festivals is observed for 1.5,2 ,5 ,7 ,10 or 11 days at per different customs. Idols of lord Ganesha are bought /made at home and daily Pooja, offering of foods and arati is done twice in these days. And on the last day idol of Ganesha immersed in water and people bid adieu with heavy heart and  message to come next year soon.

Any celebration with your family and friends make it special. Involve children also  in preparation of this  festivals and they will enjoy learning and preparing for it surely.Children will love to do  creative tasks like  decorating pooja place, making Ganesha idols, Making garlands from flowers  , Drawing Rangoli .Children are great learners and involving them in celebrating festivals will help them to be spiritual and happy.
I follow these 5 steps and  take help of complete family and children as well  to welcome lord at my home as this is the way my family is celebrating  Ganesha festival since many years.

1. Cleaning

Get your brooms ,brushes  and scrubs to clean out the dust , waste and dirt from house. Cleaning is must  ritual done before  any festival or worshiping.  Start with cleaning the house ,passages , garden if any ,balconies and then the Pooja room or place where Lord Ganesha will be  worshiped during festival time .Take help of children whenever possible.
It’s pleasant gesture  to welcome the god in house .After cleaning the place we live for welcoming god it’s time to clean our   mind from worries ,tensions  ,pain and discomfort. 

2. Decoration

Now the markets are full of ready made decoration accesaries  ,lighting ,boards ,baners and what’s not. But instead of buying ready made things try your creative hands on making it on your own. It will actually help your children to boost their creativity ,imagination and most important they will be engaged for some time. Its  an easy activity for them ,so bring required decoration accessories like ribbons ,glue, glitters ,colors ,sheets satin ribbon and start making own creation along with your children. Decide the theme of decoration first and accordingly plan it. Loads of DIY videos are available  on YouTube .Take help of them and make your own things.

3. Eco friendly idols

As we all are aware of environment problems arising because of pollution and  plaster of Paris  idols of lord Ganesha  after immersing  in rivers cause  many environmental problems. Thus why not try making your own lord Ganesha at home. Just take mud and try your hands on making an idol. Color it with favorite colors and glitters and  worship it in festival.Children will enjoy making idols and most the coloring part.
And immerse this idol  in water  on last day at home only. Use this water for watering plants in your garden/  balcony . We can definitely help saving environment by this way. Many people are following this approach and it really positive note.

4. Offerings /Naivadyam

Lord Ganesha loves sweets and thus many types of sweets are made during festival as a offering to him. Make traditional sweets like  modaks (Sweet dumplings made by stuffing coconut  and jagery ) laddoos , gujiyas  (Sweet fried dumplings made by stuffing sweet mixture ) at home for offerings. Involve your kids while making this delicacies they will enjoy learning cooking  in the best way.Different types of moulds are available in the market for making modaks ,gujiyas and it becomes very easy to make these sweets using these moulds. Children can easily use them to learn making these sweets.

5. Worshiping

Worship ganesha with vidhis and make arti at the end of pooja. Ganesha worshiped using durva , flowers ,Prasad ,fruits ,gulal and at the end arti is performed. Every step in vidhi has its own meaning and its been said this brings harmony and peace in house. Many different types of Prasad are offered and as a child I loved this Prasad the most. This prasad section is loved by most of the  kids as they get to eat variety of  prasads. If possible ask children to distribute this prasad at nearby orphanage , underprivileged  kids.

photo credit: Shree Ganesha via photopin (license)