Ganesha Chaturthi is Celebrated at Prestige Golfshire in Banalore, India
Associates at Prestige Golfshire Club in Bangalore, India have been celebrating Ganesha Chaturthi with a Pooja ceremony with the local Poojari; prayers and individual blessings were given and each staff member attending having their foreheads marked with a red bindi.
We asked Javier Faran, Director of Agronomy to explain the festival and give us an insight into how the agronomy team celebrates.
What is Ganesha Chaturthi?
Ganesh Chaturthi, also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi is a Hindu festival commemorating the birth of the Hindu God Ganesha. The festival is marked with the installation of Ganesha’s clay murtis in homes and public places on elaborate pandals.
Why is it celebrated?
The festival celebrates Ganesha as the God of New Beginnings and the Remover of Obstacles as well as the God of Wisdom and Intelligence
What are the traditional ways to celebrate?
The image of Ganesha is believed to absorb all the negativity in one’s household. The way of celebrating is by offering plenty of tasty food, lighting lamps, dressing him up with devotion and praying to him sincerely. This image is kept at home (or the agronomy workshop) for Pooja and then immersed in water, symbolic of dissolving all evil and negative energies that manifest in one’s life as sorrow and pain.
How is Ganesha Chaturthi observed at Prestige Golfshire Club?
Ganesha is the favorite God for the agronomy team, so we do a special event in honor of this. We collect money from our team, friends and family and invite a Poojari (priest), Nagesh Swamigalu to join us to perform a Pooja, a prayer ceremony at the agronomy workshop. As a team we get together after duty to celebrate in the lake and welcome everyone to join us including associates, golfers and residents.
What does this experience mean for you as an expat in India?
I’ve been very fortunate to travel the world doing a job that is more of a passion than an occupation. Through my endeavors to become better professionally, the journey has also been one that has changed my perceptions and paradigms of life in general. This Ganesha festival has been just one of those experiences that I will keep with me for a lifetime.
