Pune residents are actively preparing to welcome Ganapati home for Ganesh Chaturthi, which lasts for 12 days this year. Many families and communities have set up decorated spaces, ranging from individual homes to larger arrangements in housing societies. The festival officially begins on Monday, with some devotees already bringing idols home on Sunday, the eve of the celebration.
It gets too crowded to do this tour during the later days of the festival,” Kulkarni said. For several families, bringing the idol home a day early is both a practical decision and a way to begin the celebrations without the rush associated with the first morning of the festival. “Visiting the five Manache Ganapati is a family tradition for us during Ganeshotsav. We start the festival by bringing our own Ganapati home. After the sthapana and puja, we visit Dagdusheth Ganapati with our extended family. Then we proceed to visit the Manache Ganapati temples.
It is easier and more peaceful to bring Bappa home earlier rather than deal with the traffic and crowds in the morning,” said Sayali Gaikwad of Dhankawadi. “We bring the idol home a day before to avoid the morning rush on the day of the festival. For many such families, Ganeshotsav is not only about bringing an idol home but also about returning to rituals and routines that have been followed for generations. The first day of the festival brings together two family traditions for Rutuja Kulkarni — welcoming their own Ganapati home and visiting Pune’s iconic temples. The society’s Ganapati will arrive on the beats of dhol-tasha after residents collect the idol from the sponsor’s home. They take the idol around the society before installing it at the clubhouse. An aarti is organised by residents of different buildings, followed by prasad. The duration of the celebrations also varies from family to family. three, five or seven days, others keep them at home throughout the festival While some families immerse their idols after a day-and-a-half. Each household follows its own tradition, with the length of the stay often determined by family customs that have been passed down over generations.