Ganesh Chaturthi festival: Hindu deity Ganesha immersed in Arabian Sea, Mumbai

Ganesha is one of the deities best-known and most widely worshipped in the Hindu pantheon. Although he is known by many other attributes, Ganesha's elephant head makes him particularly easy to identify.

Ganesha Chaturthi / Vinayaka Chaturthi is the festival of Ganesha, who is believed to bestow his presence on earth for all his devotees in the duration of this festival. It is the day Shiva declared his son Ganesha as superior to all the gods.

The festival usually falls between 20 August and 15 September and lasts for 10 days. It sees millions of Hindus gathering to see the elephant-god idols immersed in a river or the sea, symbolizing a ritual seeing-off of his journey towards his abode, taking away with him the misfortunes of all mankind.