Piyush Garud

Piyush Garud is a documentary filmmaker based in Mumbai. After graduating from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, he has worked with filmmakers on independent documentaries and short fiction. He is interested in exploring caste dynamics and development rhetoric. He is currently shooting for an independent documentary.

Ganesh Chaturthi is a Hindu festival celebrated in honour of the elephant-headed god, Ganesha. Celebrations are traditionally held on the fourth day of the first fortnight (Shukla Chaturthi) in the month of Bhaadrapada in the Hindu calendar, usually August or September in the Gregorian calendar. The festival is widely celebrated throughout Maharashtra, Goa and the Konkan coast of Karnataka. The festival was once patronised by the erstwhile family of the Peshwa who had his seat of power in Pune. After the decline of the Peshwa after the arrival of the British, the festival was revived in the late 19th century by nationalist leader Bal Gangadhar Tilak. The festival is celebrated in households, temples and within communities. The public celebration involves installing clay images of Ganesha in pandals (temporary temples) and group worship. At the end of the festival, the idols are immersed in a body of water, in a ritual called visarjan.