CHICAGO - The sight of thousands of colorful, detailed elephant-type figures and the scent of sweet modak treats signal that Ganesh Chaturthi has arrived in India but it was no different in Chicago, USA. 

Indian Association of Greater Chicago (IAGC), a non-profit, community-based group in the western suburbs of Chicago, celebrated Ganesha Chaturthi Festival as an 8-Day Utsav. Beginning on Sunday, September 1st, 2019 the Utsav celebrations began with Prathishtha Pooja at 10:00 am Barrington Square mall, 2300 W Higgins Rd Hoffman Estates, Illinois, a west suburb of Chicago & about 25 minutes from O’Hare International Airport. The President of IAGC, Sri.Malla Reddy along with the families of other office bearers, Board of Directors & the community supporters performed the Prathistha pooja.

The 8-day celebrations during the Utsav included, daily pooja, kirtans, bhajans, clay Ganesha workshop (Sponsored by BidShore) for kids, Garbha (sponsored Bhavana Modi of Manpasand), Lakshmi Pooja (sponsored by Raja Rallapalli & Nilesh Topiwala), Painting Exhibition, Srinivas Kalyanam (thanks to Hema Kannuru) and Rangoli (sponsored by Ashok Laxmanan of PMS Inc and Sanjay Shah of Arlington Rentals),  and various cultural events in which, in addition to professional artists, many local dance and music school students participated.

IAGC has been holding the Ganesh Chaturthi festival as an 8-day community event for the last four years & participation of the community increasing over the years as their motivation for the continued celebration of the Ganesh Chaturthi as a community festival. People from all walks of the life & regions of India, mainly families from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Maharastra, Karnataka & Tamil Nadu across Chicago land area joined the celebrations with an estimation of over 20,000 devotees participated in the celebrations throughout 8 days event.

The 8-day celebrations during the Utsav included, daily pooja, kirtans, bhajans, clay Ganesha workshop (Sponsored by BidShore) for kids, Garbha (sponsored Bhavana Modi of Manpasand), Lakshmi Pooja (sponsored by Raja Rallapalli & Nilesh Topiwala), Painting Exhibition, Srinivas Kalyanam (thanks to Hema Kannuru) and Rangoli (sponsored by Ashok Laxmanan of PMS Inc and Sanjay Shah of Arlington Rentals),  and various cultural events in which, in addition to professional artists, many local dance and music school students participated.

Before immersing Idol of Shri Ganesh, the uttarpuja (Concluding ritualistic worship) was performed. Thereafter, Arati was be performed and the worship concluded by offering mantrapushpanjali. 

Ganesh Visarjan procession (Immersion of Idol of Shri Ganesh) was the most spectacular of all the events with flowers showered from Helicopter. Very few Indian festivals or events had organized flowers shower from a chopper in the USA. The devotees were excited at the sight of chopper & Ganapati bappa morya was echoing the entire location of the event. Later the Idol was immersed in flowing water. The Chopper flower showering was sponsored by Jasbir Suga of Suga Builders.

Malla Reddy special thanked the Ganesh core committee members for their outstanding works which includes Manoj Singamsetti, KK (Kishore Kotapati), Nilesh Topiwala, Hina Trivedhi and Aprana Desmukh.

Malla Reddy also special thanked the cultural committee handled by Aparna Desmukh and Satish Macha for ensuring the success of cultural events.

IAGC President elect Manoj Singamsettil specially thanked the decoration team of Star Beam Events for their outstanding decoration which reflected the rich Indian tradition & culture. Sincerely appreciate the Owners Star Beam Rajesh Panjarla & Venkat for the complimentary decoration services.

IAGC Vice-president Hina Trivedhi thanked the Hoffman Estates Police department & local administration for their continued support.

IAGC thanks all the sponsors, community members, Board of Directors, Office-bearers, volunteers, patrons & Chief Guests who graced the occasion.

IAGC President Malla Reddy and Executive chair Harindar Reddy Puliyala thanked the following volunteers who made this event so memorable:IAGC is grateful to Ganesh volunteer Core Team: Rajeswari Rawat, Trupti Patel, Radhika Desai, Vittal Desai, Aparna Deshmukh, Parul Topiwala, Vidyashree Poojary, Sandeep Yellampalli, Ankur, Poonam, Tejas Reddy, Madhu, Praveen, Sathya Narayana, Srinivas Kasala, Rajavardhan Reddy, Divya, Poonam Jain , Vinod Kumar, Sakshi Agarwal, Rajesh, Murali, Anitha Mandadi, Mamtha Vuppala, Shilpa Macha, Bhavana Puliyaha, Laskmi Nagubandi .

Malla Reddy, President of IAGC expressed heartfelt thanks to those numerous volunteers & sponsors who contributed their time & efforts without any expectation of name & fame.

IAGC executive board thanked all the food/prasadam/other sponsors which includes –

• Annadatta sukhi bhava  - thanks to Vishnu Vilas, Annapurna, Jigar, Bawarchi, Siri Restaurant – Downtown, Hot Breads and Thumka Indian Grill for the tastiest prasadam.
• Grateful to successful bidders of ladoo auction - KK Reddy of HR Pundits, Ram Bhupal Reddy of NATA & Ram.
• Special thanks to Ravi Kapoor of Prag International for sponsoring Haldiram Ladoos for daily prasad distribution.
• Hello NRI for sponsoring Advertisement and coverage
• The event was filled with fragrance of fresh flowers & a special thanks to Ravindra Seshadri of Shri Padmam Flowers for sponsoring.
• Grateful to Shivani Gupta for quenching the thirst of thousands of devotees, volunteers by sponsoring infinite bottles of drinking water. Lord Ganesha bless you.
• DJ Hiren, thanks for enriching the atmosphere & energizing the devotees with your musical magic.
• Bombay Bowl for sponsoring the food
• Maharashtra Mandal of Chicago – hats off to the team for the best dhol performance & leaving us in the trance of Ganesh ji bhajan even after the visarjan.

Thanks to our Corporate sponsors – HR Pundits, Suga Builders, Arlington Rentals, Chicago Imports, PMS Inc, Asli Foods, Jiva Oganics Foods, Parag International, Universal Accounting, Bhavish Financial Services, Krishna Rangaraju of New York Life, Bidshore, Chandini of Dairy Delights, Barra & Associates, Sai Ravi Suribhotla (Realtor), AUCI, SAI Global Services, Harry Mohan of Punjab Starlive, Rely Services.

IAGC Executive Board Comprises of: Malla Reddy, Harindar Reddy, Manoj Singamsetti, Hina Trivedi