MUMBAI, INDIA, September 4, 2015 (Mid Day): With Ganesh Chaturthi round the corner, September 17 to be precise, devotees in the city are in preparation mode to welcome Mumbai’s elephant God. Due to a scarcity of pandits during the Ganesh festival K.J. Somaiya Bharatiya Sanskriti Peetham has designed a special Ganesh puja course. In a workshop conducted recently, participants learned to conduct Ganesha puja at their home without the help of a pandit.
Dr. Kala Acharya, director, Bharatiya Sanskriti Peetham at K.J. Somaiya, Vidyavihar says, “Our institute has been working on the worship of various Indian Gods and we decided to share the knowledge of Ganpati with others. That is why we have organized this workshop to help people understand the prayers and rituals better.”
Learners watched avidly learning the mantras, chants and various steps of the puja from Shukla. Puja was followed by in-depth explanation of Lord Ganesh’s iconography by Acharya. Archarya explained how Ganesh worship came about, the Vedas, writings about Ganpati, the depictions and other aspects. Dr. Lalita Namjoshi went on to add about the prayers and their meaning from Sanskrit to English.
More at source.