Ganesh Chaturthi: Colourful variations of a divine faith

The ongoing Ganesh Chaturthi festival is a spectacle of faith like no other. Fashioned from mere clay, the elephant-headed God's radiant form is playfully imagined by creators, reclaiming the space of

Sep 13, 2024, 16:43 IST1 min

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A delightful Ganesha, designed using popular biscuit packets on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Chennai on September 7, 2024.

Image by R.Satish Babu / AFP

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Lalbaugcha Raja, as the Ganesh idol is popularly known in the locality of Lalbaug in Mumbai, is unveiled to the media on September 5, 2024.

Image by Satish Bate/HT via Getty Images

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A passenger takes the deity home in a taxi on the eve of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai on September 6, 2024.

Image by Ashish Vaishnav/SOPA /LightRocket via Getty Images

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In a surprising variation, Lord Ganesha hugs Mushaka, the mouse, his chosen vehicle found alongside in the usual depictions of the idol, at a local workshop in Ahmedabad, India, on September 7, 2024.

Image by Saurabh Sirohiya/NurPhoto via Getty Images

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A devotee offers prayers before a Ganesha, enveloped in strung turmeric root, on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi festival, in Chennai on September 7, 2024.

Image by R.Satish BABU / AFP

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Devotees carry a leaping Ganesha to a pandal in Mumbai ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi Festival on August 25, 2024

Image by Bhushan Koyande/HT via Getty Images

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A Ganesh in a traditional fishermen’s robe sits on a crab at Ghadigaonkar Ganesh Workshop at Lalbaug, on February 4, 2024 in Mumbai, India

Image by Bhushan Koyande/Hindustan Times via Getty Images

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An unusual variation of Ganesha, with multiple heads featuring various deities, gazes benignly at a pandal in Hyderabad on September 7, 2024.

Image by NOAH SEELAM / AFP

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Posing for a photo with her brother, a girl assumes the posture of the Ganesh deity at a home in Mumbai on September 8, 2024

Image by Ashish Vaishnav/SOPA /LightRocket via Getty Images

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Ghatkopar Police Station’s personnel carry the idol of Lord Ganesha from the workshop to the police station where it will be installed for a week on September 7, 2024 in Mumbai.

Image by Satish Bate/HT via Getty Images