Video from Ganesh Chaturthi Festival

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Here is a video that I shot one week ago on my last full day in Mumbai. This was the first night of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. It totally lived up to my expectations! The streets were filled with drummers, dancers, and huge Plaster of Paris elephant-god statues.

The closest American comparison to Ganesh Chaturthi is perhaps Christmas. Just like most families purchase a Christmas tree and decorate it in a prominent location of their house, many citizens of Mumbai purchase an elephant-god idol and decorate it in a prominent location of their house.

Many neighborhoods and organizations will pool their money to purchase a huge elephant-god statue, up to 20- and 30-feet tall. Then they march it through the streets and dance along the way, as pictured in my video. Perhaps most interesting is what happens at the end of the 10-day festival: Everybody helps to carry the statues to the ocean, and they throw them into the sea.