I remember, as a child we would began preparing nevryo about a week before Chaturthi, when our aunts and neighbors came over to help
Rudraksh, Assolda, South Goa
Lord Ganesha's birthday, or "Chaturthi," is one of the most well-known Hindu festivals. According to the lunar calendar, it is observed on the fourth day of the Bhadrapada fortnight, which runs from August to September.
In accordance with tradition, idols of Lord Ganesha are fervently immersed in a lake, temple tank, well, or sea after being worshipped for 1.5, 5, 7, 9, 11, or 21 days during the month of "Bhadrapada." The culmination of this eagerly anticipated celebration for the Hindu community in Goa and worldwide is the immersion that takes place on the day of "Anant Chaturdashi." If Lord Ganesha is the family deity (also known as Kull Dev), then the family in question is limited to performing a puja using a picture frame that has a picture of Lord Ganesha that is changed yearly rather than worshiping an idol of Him.
Every married woman in the family, with the exception of widows, places five "vaina" coconuts (which must first be cleaned and dehusked), each decorated with five beads woven onto a thread and symbolically marked with kumkum or turmeric powder, into a basket with an oil lamp in the middle on this day. The coconut-filled basket is offered back to the ladies of the house after being placed in front of Lord Ganesh for the allotted amount of time—typically 1.5 days—or until "Thai," a ceremony honoring the god's parents. A sweet dish would be made using the coconut.
Every Goan Hindu invokes Lord Ganesha before starting a prayer. Before beginning any kind of worship or initiating any auspicious work, his many names are chanted. Being the eldest son of Lord Shiva, he is revered as the Lord of power and wisdom. Mothers pray to Lord Ganesha in order to bestow upon their sons the noble qualities of the Lord of Wisdom. He is revered in many guises; eight of them are particularly well-known as "Ashtavinayaks," and they are found throughout India, primarily in Maharashtra.
There are many legends surrounding his origin and his Elephant headed being. One of these, mentions Him being a creation of Goddess Parvati and He who got beheaded for not obeying his very own father, Lord Shiva's orders of letting him in to visit Parvati. It is said that, Goddess Gauri (consort of Lord Shiva), created Ganesha as a pure white being out of the clay from Her Body and placed Him at the entrance of their house. She asked Him not to allow anyone to enter while she went inside for a bath. Incidentally Lord Shiva Himself was returning home quite thirsty and was stopped by Ganesha at the gate. To this, Shiva turned furious and cut off Ganesha's head as He thought Ganesha was a stranger and was not at all aware that the young boy was his very own son.
Gauri was devastated to learn about the entire incident. Shiva encouraged His servants to chop off and bring to Him the head of any creature that might be sleeping with its head facing north and backing his mother in order to ease her grief. The servants went on their assigned mission and found only an elephant in that position. The sacrifice was thus made and the elephant's head was brought to Shiva. He then joined the elephant's head onto the body of Ganesha.
Lord Ganesh has a mouse as His mode of transport and is known for His liking of Modaks which are offered to Him on every ocassion whether it be Chaturthi, Sankashti or Vinayaka Chaturthi. Here are some insights into celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi in Goa. Miss Radiya Mahale from Mala, Panjim says, "Every year, our family spends a full day and a half worshiping the idol of Lord Ganesha. A faral (offering) of twenty-one Modaks and five Kaji (sweets) is made to the Lord of Wisdom on the first day. They perform the naivedya and arti twice a day. "The family follows a practice that not every Hindu family generally follows," adds Miss Mahale. In their house the idol of Lord Ganesha venerated in the current year is immersed in coming year and not during the same year as generally observed in most Hindu families.
The idol is kept in their home for the entire year and is placed in a special area outside of their prayer room (Deva kudd). The previous year's idol is submerged in their family well, right in their backyard, the following year. Foods cooked at Radiya's house include Bhatat Kapam, Nevreo, and Modak, among others.
According to Mrs. Arya Karande of Panjim, Brahmin Hindu families honor Lord Ganesha's parents, Parvati and Shiv Shankar, on a day known as "Thai," during which the women of the household fast. This is done one day before the Ganesh idol is installed. Due to Parvati's pregnancy on this day, no salt is added to any offerings made to her. For the same reason, fire crackers are not burned on this day. Arya goes on to say, "Artis are sung before lunch and dinner on the days when the Ganesh idol is worshipped. These artists might be paying homage to a variety of deities, including Shankar, Laxami, and Ganpathi.
Family members, in the morning after rising on an empty stomach, make an offering of flowers (red hibiscus) and Durva (scutch grass), recite the many names of Lord Ganesha, ask for His blessings, and then perform other household chores. On the days the idol is worshipped, a strict vegetarian diet is observed by everyone at home. Garlic and onions are not even allowed. The family gathers to eat together on the floor in front of the idol during lunch and dinner.
According to Arya, one intriguing custom observed by people is that on the first day of Ganesh Chaturti, they refrain from gazing at the moon. According to legend, Lord Ganesh was riding home on his vehicle i.e the rat. The rat trembled in terror when it saw a snake while traveling. Lord Ganesh collapsed to the ground as a result of the rat's frightening shudder. The moon in the sky laughed heartily at the whole scene as it watched him fall. When the Moon made fun of Lord Ganesha, he became enraged and cursed the Moon, telling everyone not to look at it on the day he visits his house (the home of his worshippers) and that anyone who did would suffer bad luck.
“Ganesh chaturthi is not merely a festival, it is a form of nature worship aswell. During my childhood I would to go into the jungle to collect seasonal flora. Chaturthi is a festival of joy!”, exclaims Adwait Salgaonkar from Pernem.
'During the two days of Chaturthi celebration at my place there are a variety of dishes prepared in the house. In our house, on day one we make rice flour items stuffed with a filling of coconut and Jaggery as Prasad known as "Paach khaaji" or " Paach jinnas" in which we make 25 items (5 each of different designs like modak,nevri,ushi,laadu etc). On day two ,along with other items, we make the special "Paach palyachi bhaaji" using 5 leafy vegetables', mentions Nidhi.
Also on the second day, we have the tradition of "Gobyanchi Pooja" where we make a "makhar" of banana stems. Along with that we perform the "Navyanchi Pooja" wherein the rice sheaves are plucked from a field and a pooja is done of the same and then these are tied at the entrance of the house, she adds.
In most homes,these age old traditions still continue, for example sitting together to decorate,to cook,to eat etc whereas in some cases now these practices have been replaced. It is not rare to see families today using readymade decoration. Like the banana leaves or "leaf patravali" used for eating are replaced by paper plates.Some people give orders for traditonal food outside making it like a buffet system.