Gauri puja takes place one day before Ganesh puja during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. In different Indian regions, especially in South-India and Maharashtra, people worship goddess Gauri with extensive rituals.
Goddess Gauri, another form of Goddess Parvati, is the mother of Lord Ganesha. In Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamilnadu, people worship Gauri with loads of rituals, called “Gauri Habba”. During the Gauri puja, unmarried women observe a fast called Swarna Gauri Vrat to get blessings from goddess Gauri for a successful married life.
Besides, in Maharashtra, people believe Gauri to be Ganesha’s sisters Jyeshtha and Kanishta, and both come to visit Ganesha during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. So, devotees install two Gauri idols and worship them. This festival is being observed for three days, from embracing (Hindi: Avahan) to Gauri puja to the idols’ immersion (Hindi: Visarjan).
Devotees worship goddess Gauri to accomplish wealth and prosperity. Married women of the house perform arati to welcome the goddess. Following, women decorate the idol, like any other married woman with new clothes and traditional Hindu ornaments like Mangalsutra, toes ring, kumkum, etc.
The idol and the ladies of the house wear green saree, as green signifies harvest and fertility.
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