After two years of restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mumbai, India’s financial capital, is celebrating the traditional festival of the elephant god Ganesh, or Ganapati. The festival usually begins on Ganesh Chaturthi, the fourth day of Bhadrapad or the sixth month of the Hindu calendar, which commemorates Lord Ganesh’s birth, with the installation of clay idols of Ganesh at home and in public places. The elephant-headed god is traditionally worshiped in India before any major enterprise and is revered throughout Hindu religious society.
The city has welcomed the tallest Ganesh idol in India’s western state of Maharashtra, standing about 11.6 meters tall.