Sri Ganesh Chaturthi Celebration in America:
Festivals are closely associated with the life of Indians, which are nostalgic and auspicious at the same time, and bind them to their motherland, irrespective of where they go and where they live. Ganesh Chaturthi festival is a very important celebration for the Marathi, Gujarati Tamil and Telugu communities of India. Similarly, Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated in a grand style in many major cities of USA, where there is a large Indian population.
In USA, celebrations of most of the Hindu festivals are organized in different temples by the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS). This HSS community arranges the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in all major cities where they have established their branches. The largest Ganesh Festival celebration in USA is held at Philadelphia, which is arranged by the Marathi community of the state. Different events of the celebrations include singing devotional songs, cultural programmes and a huge colourful procession on the day of immersion of the idol.
Three organizations jointly take the initiative of celebration of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in the Bay area of USA at the Fremont Hindu Temple. They are Maharashtra Mandal, The Bay Area Telugu Association (BATA), and Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS). The celebrations last for ten days and finally the idol is immersed in the Pacific Ocean near Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
The biggest Ganesh Chaturthi celebration in USA is held at Sai Samstan, which is a Hindu society based outside Illinois. In addition to the local people, several people from nearby cities come to Illinois to take part in this grand festival. Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations are also organized in other states of USA including California, Florida, and New York but not on a big way.
