Surat (Gujarat), September 5: With just some days left for the Ganesh Chaturthi festival, Surat city is all set to welcome the deity of prosperity- Lord Ganesha. "There are still 15 days left for Ganesh Chaturthi but Gujarat's Surat has already started gearing up for the festival," Shakti Group Organizer Surat City Ravi Kharadi told ANI on Monday.

People bring the idol of Lord Ganesha to a pandal where the idol of the deity is decorated. More than fifty thousand idols are installed during the Ganesh Utsav in Surat, he added. "The idol of Vighnaharta Dev Ganesh arrived in Surat late on Monday night. Thousands of people gathered to welcome Bappa in the Ganesh Arrival Yatra organized by Shakti Group," he said.

A special Nashik Dhol group was called, and along with that people came to the yatra dressed up in the forms of Lord Krishna, Radhaji, Hanumanji, Mahakaal, and Maa Kalika, said Kharadi.

Thousands of people gathered to welcome Ganpati Bappa in the Adajan area of ​​the city on Monday night with great enthusiasm and danced and sang, he added. People worship Lord Ganesha with great faith for 10 days. With only a couple of days left for the occasion the preparations in the city are in full swing, added Kharadi.

The Ganesh Chaturthi festival, which falls in the Bhadrapada month of the Hindu calendar, marks the birthday of Lord Ganesha, son of Shiva and Parvati. Also known as Vinayak Chaturthi or Ganeshotsav, the festival is marked with the installation of Ganesha's clay idols privately in homes and publicly on elaborate pandals (temporary stage).

The 10-day festival ends when the idol is carried in a public procession with music and group chanting, then immersed in a nearby body of water such as a river or sea, called visarjan on the day of Anant Chaturdashi.

The festival celebrates Ganesha as the God of New Beginnings and the Remover of Obstacles as well as the god of wisdom and intelligence. This year the Ganesh Chaturthi festival will begin on September 19 and will continue for ten days until September 29.

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