Content area
Full Text
Introduction
India, being a spiritual and secular country, celebrates a wide range of festivals throughout the year. Festivals are at the heart of the people living in India and they exude culture and collectivism. A large number of festivals are celebrated from a religious outlook in commemoration of the saints, gurus, gods and goddesses and the victory of good over evil. There are 51 official festivals in India, of which 17 are nationally celebrated and 34 are regional (Government of India list of festivals - Rajya Sabha, 2013). There are eight very popular festivals in India: Diwali, also known as festival of lights; Ganesh Chaturthi festival, which honors the birth of the elephant-headed God - Lord Ganesha; Holi, the festival of colours, which celebrates the spring harvest season and victory of good over evil; Navratri, Dusshera and Durga Puja are the festivals celebrating the victory of Lord Rama over Ravana as well as Goddess Durga's victory over buffalo demon Mahishasura; Onam is a ten-day harvest festival celebrating the home-coming of King Mahabali; Krishna Janmashtami commemorates the birth of Lord Krishna and is celebrated by making human pyramids of various heights to reach and break curd-filled clay pots; Kerala temple festival celebrates the glory of God by decorating elephants and having various communal activities; and the Pushkar camel fair where around 50,000 camels are assembled for communal activities and competitions (Cook, 2013). All these festivals contribute to the country's cultural heritage and also foster collectivism. In this case study-based qualitative research, we will be focusing on the contribution of Ganesh Chaturthi festival to the cultural and economic well-being of the country.
Background
The Ganesh Chaturthi festival is observed during the month of Bhadrapada according to the Hindu calendar and commences on the Chaturthi day, i.e. the fourth lunar day of the waxing moon fortnight. The festival is celebrated for a period of 10 to 12 days and ends on the Anantha Chaturdashi day, this date normally falls between August 20 and September 20 annually (Britannica, 2013). This festival is believed to have originated in the city of Pune under the Maratha Empire during 1630 to 1680. Lord Ganesha was Maratha rulers' Kuldevata (family deity). Their empire perished around 1818, and with the end of the...