Sixty students from George Washington University and George Mason University attended Hindu YUVA’s Ganesh Pooja at GWU on September 11th. The Ganesh murthy-sthapana was performed in the on-campus apartment of one of the Hindu YUVA members. Subsequently, the students performed aarti. The fragrance of dhoop sticks and karpur created a perfect atmosphere for celebration. Afterwards, everyone enjoyed delicious prasadam. Similar celebrations were also being performed at few more apartments on-campus.

The Ganesh Visarjan was performed the next evening. The Visarjan ceremony was attended by over 25 students. This ceremony was commonly performed for all the Ganesh deities on the GWU campus. The deities in a small tub placed in the balcony of a student’s apartment.

The program was also attended by Shri Ramdev Sood, President of the DC chapter of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, Dr. Radheshyam Dwivedi, President of the International Center for Cultural Studies, and Atul Rawat, a well-known historian from India. Dr. Dwivedi spoke about Lord Ganesh and the societal importance of Ganesh Utsav.