The Ganapati Spirit of Mumbai : festival of Ganesh Chaturthi

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• published: 14 Sep 2013
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We're talking of the real ganpati here, and not the Indian antiques shop in Orbassano, Italy! Mumbai - The city of dreams. One of the busiest metros in all of South East Asia. Home to the biggest film industry in the world. A global financial hub and the commercial capital of India. Beyond the obvious, Mumbai is also about its people. The same people that make it the most populous city in India. Belonging to Mumbai is not about being born into a Marathi family and being brought up in Mumbai, it is about having the Mumbai Spirit- the one that binds all Mumbaikars. The spirit of Mumbai is reflected in its culture, its business and its festivities. If one talks about festivities in Mumbai, the most prominent that comes to one's mind is the grand festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. The pomp and the pagentary of Ganpati sweeps the city off its feet and turns it upside down for a period of 10 days during August or September every year. Mumbaikars, regardless of caste, class, religion and gender come to the streets of Mumbai celebrating the very essence of being a Mumbaikar. Smeared with colour, faces aglow with the faith in their hearts and bodies expressing the energy of their belief. The celebration of the arrival of the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune - Ganesha. As the shouts of "Ganpatti Bappa Morya" echo through the concrete jungle of the city, the festivities continue in every street and almost every home. Massive Ganesha idols in even bigger Mandaps adorn the streets of the busy city. People stand in queues, which have been known to be as long as 6kms in single file to get a glimpse of their deity. The financial side of the of the festival is reflected in the fact that the idols are now being insured by insurance companies, with policies as high as Rs. 200 crores or 40 million US Dollars. The immersion of the idols starts after one and a half days of worship, with idols in homes being the first ones to go. The last day, which is called the 'Ananta Chaturdasi', sees the madness of the festival come to a head as most of the processions take place with thousands of people, dancing and celebrating their love for their beloved 'Ganpati'. Everyone can be seen on the roads celebrating, ranging from the modest chaiwala to the biggest movie stars and industrialists. This is what signifies the spirit of Ganesh Chaturthi- the oneness and the unity of the city of Mumbai. This is what envelopes everything that being a Mumbaikar could possibly mean. This is the true spirit of Mumbai. This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of HD imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection comprises of tens of thousands of hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM / SR 1080i High Definition, Alexa, SR, HDV and XDCAM. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... Reach us at rupindang @ gmail . com and admin@wildfilmsindia.com.