It is not very clear that when this festival of 'Ganesh Chaturthi' started but it becomes a very major public event with the sponsorship of Shivaji after Mughal-Maratha wars and later on in the 19th century the freedom fighter Lokmanya Tilak revived it in his tenure. It is a ten-day festival and it starts on the fourth day (Chaturthi) of Hindu lunisolar calendar month Bhadrapada which falls on the month of August or September of Gregorian calendar. This festival is widely celebrated in Karnataka, Maharastra, Pune, Goa, Chhattisgarh and in some part Andhra Pradesh. Now, this festival is celebrated all over India with everybody's acceptance.
During festival days all ladies would like to go for the traditional attire of sarees of a different type. India is a country where the wearing of sarees come under the domain of handloom industries that is an economic support for the country. It is not possible to mention about all type of sarees that ladies wear in 'Ganesh Chaturthi'. I will give out the details about the five type of sarees that are worn for the celebration of this festival.
There is a particular type of saree named Nauvari which originated from Maharashtra. This used to be the saree of 'Koli' or fisherman community. But with passing days very beautiful modern and trendy version of nauvari sarees have evolved which is appreciated by many sophisticated ladies of society. This type of saree is a real chosen one to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi festival. Paithani sarees are very dressy one's which are also accepted by the ladies as saree of Ganesh Chaturthi. This saree again originates from Maharashtra which again is included in country's cottage industry domain. These are mostly very gorgeous and colorful and ladies really look very nice when they come to worship 'Ganesh Bappa' in the pandal.
Gadwal saree of Telangana state is very much liked by ladies who would like to dress up most elegantly at the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. These sarees are the very bright color with a broad saree border on both the edges of the saree. This is expensive and unique. Ladies buy it for the occasion of 'Ganesh Chaturthi' and keep it in their cupboard for a lifetime. Quality is so good that even if it is worn many times lusture remains the same all along. Cotton gadwalls are also there which is not that expensive and this is very pocket-friendly for the buyers.
Since Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated by everybody these days in West Bengal also has become a part of it now. Therein Bengal festive celebration is very much associated with Dhakai jamdani and Baluchari saree. Ladies go for Ganpati darshan wearing Dhakai jamdani and Baluchari sarees. Dhakai jamdani has its origin in Dhaka which is the capital of Bangladesh now. In West Bengal also the weavers are weaving Dhakai jamdani sarees that are simply fantastic one. Baluchari sarees are only made of silk and they are very unique in design. These days were the different stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata is weaved on border and pallu of Baluchari saree which represent the rich heritage of art and culture of West Bengal.
India is a land of people of a variety of religion and culture. As a secular country, it celebrates all festivals of all religion. Ganesh Chaturthi has taken its own place in the history of Indian festivals.