Ganesh Chaturthi – Festival for wisdom & Prosperity

When Celebrated
Ganesh or Vinayak Chaturthi celebration starts on the fourth day of Hindu calendar month Bhadrapada (August or September).

Why Celebrated - Significance
Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated as birthday of revered Ganesha, the god of wisdom & prosperity. It marks new beginning and remover of obstacles.

How & Where Celebrated

1. The festival is celebrated all over India, but in Maharashtra, Goa, Tangana, Gujarat & Chhattisgarh, it is celebrated in very big way as public social & religious function.
2. An idol of Ganesh is brought to home or installed in elaborately decorated Pandals, with much fanfare and worshipped daily by offering modaks, ladoos and panchamrit & arti.
3. The idol after one & a half days to maximum ten days is taken to nearby pond, lake or sea and immersed.

 
Celebrated since when
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1. As per historical records, Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations were initiated in Maharashtra by Chatrapati Shivaji, the great Maratha ruler, to promote culture and nationalism.
2. Similar celebrations were done during Peshwa times. It is believed that Lord Ganapati was the family deity of the Peshwas. After the end of Peshwa rule, Ganesh Chaturthi remained a family affair in Maharashtra from the period of 1818 to 1892.
In 1892, Lokmanaya Bal Gangadhar Tilak made it into a community affair, where rich and poor could worship alike. It is called Ganeshutsav. Big pandals are
As per mythology, Goddess Parvati created Ganesha out of dirt off her body while having a bath and set him to guard her door while she finishes her bath. Shiva who has gone out, returned at that time, but as Ganesha didn't know of him, stopped him from entering. An angry Shiva severed the head of Ganesha after a combat between the two. Parvati was enraged and Shiva promised Ganesha will live again. The devas who went in search of a head facing north of a dead person could manage only the head of an elephant. Shiva fixed the elephant's head on the child and brought him back to life.
 
References:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesh_Chaturthi
3. As per historical records, Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations were initiated in Maharashtra by Chatrapati Shivaji, the great Maratha ruler, to promote culture and nationalism.
4. Similar celebrations were done during Peshwa times. It is believed that Lord Ganapati was the family deity of the Peshwas. After the end of Peshwa rule, Ganesh Chaturthi remained a family affair in Maharashtra from the period of 1818 to 1892.

In 1892, Lokmanaya Bal Gangadhar Tilak made it into a community affair, where rich and poor could worship alike. It is called Ganeshutsav. Big pandals are
As per mythology, Goddess Parvati created Ganesha out of dirt off her body while having a bath and set him to guard her door while she finishes her bath. Shiva who has gone out, returned at that time, but as Ganesha didn't know of him, stopped him from entering. An angry Shiva severed the head of Ganesha after a combat between the two. Parvati was enraged and Shiva promised Ganesha will live again. The devas who went in search of a head facing north of a dead person could manage only the head of an elephant. Shiva fixed the elephant's head on the child and brought him back to life.
 
References:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesh_Chaturthi