Hindus in Peterborough danced and sang as they celebrated the most important festival in their calendar at Ferry Meadows in the city.
The culmination of the Ganesh Visarjan festival was held at the park on Tuesday (September 17), and worshippers dressed in colourful clothes to attend the celebrations.
People sang and danced as they accompanied a statue of Ganesh – the most important God for Hindus – on a route through the park.
The statue was then lowered from a bridge into water as a symbolic way of ending the festival. As Ganesh was lowered into the water, people threw petals from the bridge in celebration.
Rajni Reddy, from the Peterborough Hindu temple, said: “We celebrate the Ganesh Festival to commemorate the birth of Ganesh – Ganesh is the most important God in the Hindu pantheon of Gods because he is the remover of obstacles and also the God who brings us good luck and prosperity. We celebrate his birth for 10 days, depending on the moon – it happens on the fourth day of the waxing moon in a particular month of the year. We bring an idol of Gamesh into our homes and our temples, we infuse life into him with certain rituals and prayers, and keep him happy for 10 days. After the 10 day period we immerse him back into the water. It is symbolic of him going back into Mother Earth, who is his mother.”
