Cities across the country deck up for Ganesh Chaturthi festivities

With just a day left for Ganesh Chaturthi festival, celebrations are in the air across the country. Devotees are waiting for arrival of the Gajanana and taking part in the festive gala.
People are busy decorating their homes with flowers and rangoli designs and bring idols of Lord Ganesha into their homes.
Markets and streets bustle with people from all walks of life to make last-minute purchases for the festival. Shopowners make huge sales of decoration materials, lights, lamps, crockery and clothes.
Vendors sell flower garlands, fruits, sweets and ‘Matoli’ items such as betel nuts, local citrus fruits, coconuts and incense.
Beautifully decorated Ganesh idols are crafted by artisans, students and idol-makers ahead of the festival.
The markets of Goa’s Panaji were filled with people to make last-minute purchases for the festival.
“Ganesh Chaturthi will be celebrated across Goa tomorrow, the festivities may have just begun, but some preparations had been started well in advance. Shopkeepers have been busy selling all the essential items related to the puja of Lord Ganesha,” a shop owner told ANI.
Apart from Matoli bazaar, stalls with decorative articles and firecrackers were lined up in designated areas, making it a one-stop shopping for people visiting the municipal market, said another shopowner. 
Earlier today, Gowd Saraswat Brahman (GSB) Seva Mandal, ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi, installed an idol of Lord Ganesh adorned with 69 kg of gold and 336 kg of silver in Mumbai.
A representative of the GSB Seva Mandal told ANI this year it received 36 kg of silver and a 250-gram gold pendant for Ganesh Chathurthi.
Eco-friendly idols of lord Ganesha along with goddesses Saraswati and Laxmi were crafted in solid clay by a Bhubaneswar-based miniature artist ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in the state.
Students from Tamil Nadu’s Puducherry dedicated four months to meticulously designing a towering 15-foot-tall Ganesha idol ahead of the festival.
Sri Sathya Ganapati Temple in Bengaluru’s JP Nagar has been bedecked with currency notes and coins as part of Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations.
Mumbai’s famous Lalbaugcha Raja’s first look was unveiled on September 16 evening, days ahead of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.
In the midst of the ongoing debate and controversy surrounding the installation of a Lord Ganesha idol at Idgah Maidan, Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation gave permission to Rani Channamma Maidan Gajanan Utsav Mahamandali, to install a Ganesha idol at Idgah Maidan.
Although there are many types of ready-made items available in the market, Govind Pande, a shopkeeper in Hyderabad was busy selling unique decorative readymade Aasan of Bappa with beautiful backgrounds made of rubber foam which is reusable and Pandal of small to larger sizes made of cardboard.
With the festival around the corner, Assam’s Fatasil area in Guwahati is all set to welcome the deity of prosperity by installing a 30-foot-tall idol of Lord Ganesha.
As the city gears up for the festival, the demand for different models of Ganpati idols increased in Hyderabad with the Chandrayaan-3 model of idols being among the highest.
The demand for Eco-friendly idols is also on the rise, local vendors said.
Earlier, two weeks ago Gujarat’s Surat city had already started gearing up for the festival.
Shakti Group Organizer Surat City Ravi Kharadi told ANI that more than fifty thousand idols were installed during the Ganesh Utsav in Surat.
Ganapati Special ‘Modi Express’ was flagged by MLA Nitesh Rane today in Mumbai’s Dadar to provide a free travel facility for Konkani Ganesha devotees.
To spread the message of environmental conservation, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and ‘Big Green Ganesha’ have launched ‘Eco-Friendly Ganesha’ idols in the city. 
Mayor Shelly Oberoi flagged off the ‘Eco-Friendly Ganesha’ Rath from the Civic Center today. Now ‘Eco-Friendly Ganesha’ idols will be available in all areas of Delhi.
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 10 days until September 29