The festival celebrates him the God of good beginnings, prosperity and obstacle remover. It is observed throughout India, especially as a public event in the states of India such as Maharashtra,Telangana,Gujarat and Chhattisgarh,[1][5] usually as a private home festival in other states such Goa,Karnataka,Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.[6] At public venues, along with the reading of texts and group feasting, athletic and martial arts competitions are held.[7] It is unclear when the festival started, it may have South Indian origins, but historical evidence suggests it became a major social and public event with sponsorship of Shivaji after Muslim-Hindu (Mughal-Maratha) wars, and again in the 19th century after public appeal by Indian freedom fighter Lokmanya Tilak,[8] who championed it as a means to circumvent the colonial British government ban on Hindu gatherings through its anti-public assembly legislation in 1892.[9][10][6] Ganesha Chaturthi is also observed in Nepal and by the Hindu diaspora elsewhere such as in the Trinidad, Suriname, Fiji, Mauritius,[11] United States and Europe[4][12] (such as in Tenerife, Spain).[13][14] In recent years lot of educated Indians brought awareness among the people to install ECO friendly Idols of lord Ganesha for the protection of environment.
