Jai Hanuman

Jai Ganesh

Lord Ganapati is associated with the arts, and is often invoked before dance and drama presentations . Which is why, Chavath - the celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi - is marked with enthralling and live performances of folk dances and folk music. Bhajans and aaratis - a devotee's musical expression of love and devotion - abound during the celebration. "Every nook and corner where the festival of Chavath is celebrated is enthralled with the ghumat aarati," says Narsinh Phadte, a well known artiste from the island of Akhada in Tiswadi taluka. For the ghumat aarati, various devotional Marathi songs, composed by the saint poets, are sung by folk artists to music composed using folk instruments such as the ghumat, shamel and kasale.