Ganesha pix and stories from Dallas to Bhopal

IMAGE: Shubha Rao, settled in Seattle, USA, says: "I have been making Ganesha idols every year with a different theme/design for over 10 years from eco-friendly, all natural clay."
"This year, I derived inspiration from the stone carvings of Hoysala temples in Karnataka, my home state."
"My handmade idol consists of three panels connected to each other as well as through a common base, much like in the temples."
"This year, due to COVID-19, we celebrated virtually with friends and family across the globe via video chat."
"I am thankful for having Ganesha grace our home and to welcome him with kadubus/gujiyas, fruits, flowers from our yard and lots of bhajans."

IMAGE: Bhopal-based Pooja Chauhan's family has been celebrating Ganesh Utsav for 15 years. They have an elaborate collection of Ganesha idols at home.

IMAGE: We love how Amol Kulkarni has decorated his Ganeshas at home.

IMAGE: Eleven-year-old Kushagra Sharma from Malad, north west Mumbai, says: "I decided to celebrate and decorate my Gannuji by reusing my in-house stuff to create a small monsoon-proof pandal."
"With the company of musak raja, I installed the statue in a small make shift pandal to make sure he brings winds of change and great health for all!"

IMAGE: Sirisha Ankareddy from Ara, Bhojpur, Bihar says: "We have the custom of celebrating the Ganesh Chaturthi every year, but this year we are in Bihar where idols aren't readily available."
"We managed to get this one from Patna (60 km) from our town."
"It wasn't easy to get flowers and decorations, we managed to get some at high prices. We tried to arrange kudumulu (modaka), undrallu, pala thalikalu, thokkudu laddu and panchamrutham along with all available fruits, patri (21 types of leaves) that were offered to Lord Ganesha despite lockdown restrictions in our town."
"We really enjoyed getting the pooja performed despite all the hurdles."

IMAGE: "This year has been a challenge for everyone, and we had plans to travel back to India to Celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi with our family," says US-based Vaibhav Mangaonkar who sent us this photograph.
"Unfortunately we were not able to travel given the pandemic situation. We weren't sure if we will get Bappa's murti in the USA. But my wife said leave it to Bappa, he will ensure we get to celebrate the festival with the same enthusiasm we do back in India."
"My wife prepared the makhar using paper flowers. We connected virtually with family and friends."

IMAGE: Mumbai-based Amit Tendulkar tells us how he switched to eco-friendly celebrations this year.
"We have been celebrating Ganpati for the last 11 years. We used to get an idol of Plaster of Paris and do an eco friendly visarjan in an artificial pond."
"This year we changed the game and for the first time we got an idol made of mud and did an eco-friendly visarjan in our house."
"It was amazing considering the spirit of Ganpati is going to last forever."

IMAGE: Ridhima Kumar from St Louis, USA, sent us this photograph of Lord Ganesha at their home.

IMAGE: In Dallas, USA, Tejasvi and Viraaj welcomed Ganesha in different forms.