Ganpati Bappa Morya!
Almost every home in almost every Mumbai street is celebrating Ganesh Utsav and chanting these three words.
The Kumars, like everyone else in the city, are also celebrating the festival with dance, excitement, food and of course, prayer.
Meet Puja Kumar, her husband Ashwin and their teenage daughters, Sanjana and Dakshayani.
Puja, who is Bengali, and Ashwin, a Tamilian, both celebrate the festival with equal enthusiasm.
Bringing Bappa home
The Kumars have been bringing Lord Ganpati home for the last 20 years, ever since the couple got married.
Every year, it's an eco-friendly Ganesha made out of clay.
The celebrations start with a special havan that invites prosperity and good vibes into their home.
Occupying pride of place in the centre of their living room, the havan is made of up bricks, dry cow dung and herbs. A layer of sand lies at its bottom to make it heat-resistant.
The havan starts at 5 am, followed by the Pran Prathishtha of Lord Ganesha.
The Kumars keep Lord Ganpati for one-and-a-half days and, during this time, they invite family and friends over for darshan.
A dot of the havan's ash is applied on everyone's forehead as part of the sacred ritual.
Aartis, like the one below, are an important part of the tradition.
The Visarjan
Dhols, dance, loud music and then some more dance!
No Visarjan can be complete -- or even start! -- without some heady music and dance.
The Kumars take their Ganpati along with the building society's bigger one to an artificial tank, which has been created by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation for this purpose near their home, for the Visarjan. They leave home at around 4.30 pm; by the time they bid their final adieu to Lord Ganesha, it is past midnight!
Everyone returns home with only one prayer in their heart to Lord Ganesha, 'Pudchya varshi lavkar ya (Please return quickly next year)! '
