A Sense of
Belonging
Our Story
On a typical autumn evening in 2008, a casual rendezvous between a few friends and chit-chat over coffee turned out to be the beginning of an incredible journey. HGM became a reality in a 3-bedroom house in the West London area London area with founder, Vaibhav Raorane at the helm. The idea was to fill up the void for the lack of proper Ganesh Festival Celebrations in the UK and to bring people from different communities & cultures together to spread the festive spirit.
With the success that it experienced, HGM soon took to a much grander venue. In 2009 ‘Hounslow Cha Raja’ found himself a new home at a local temple in Hounslow. The List of achievements advanced further in 2018 as HGM earmarked another glorious Ganesh festival celebration in ‘The Palace of Westminster’ on the occasion of its 11th Anniversary.
The Celebrations
The 1st day is marked with “Sthapna” (placing of Bappa’s idol) and “Prasad” service. Enthusiasm fills the air with extra-curricular activities ranging from “Rangoli” and “Modak” competitions to kids’ singing, dancing, and fancy dress performances being organized. Dedicated volunteers beautifully decorate the temple, and to add to it, there are stalls selling mouth-watering food delicacies to keep everyone’s taste buds satiated during the festival. People exhibit their enthusiasm and joy in the form of dancing and singing on the streets along with Ganapati Bappa’s idol.
The 2nd day is even more unique with illustrious evening prayers, and a song-and-dance on-foot procession most singular of its kind involving a cavalcade of coaches and cars for the “Visarjan” (immersion of Bappa’s idol) in River Thames. This carnival-like procession fills the air with the loop chanting of “Ganapati Bappa Moraya, Pudhchya Varshi LavkarYaa” in the hope of soon welcoming Lord Ganesha next year.
Our Inspiration
The practice of celebrating Ganeshotsav was started by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak (a freedom fighter) to bring together the masses and strengthen the bonds of friendship and belongingness. Bal Gangadhar Tilak made the festival a reason for a mass movement so that people from all communities can take part and the caste divide that was so prevalent in India in those times will decrease. The inspiration behind this noble thought is what motivated us to form HGM. Our motto behind celebrating the festival every year is to bring people together and to spread around joy and cheerfulness, through the medium of traditional Indian culture.
