Today (Aug. 23) marks the start of Ganesha Chaturthi, also known as Vinayak Chaturthi or Vinayaka Chavithi. It’s a festival celebrating the birthday of Lord Ganesha and is observed during Bhadra for 10 days.

Lifelike models of Ganesha are made in preparation for the festival and people pay homage to them during the ten days until the final day of Ganesha Chaurthi known as Ananta Chaturdashi.

On the 11th day, the idol is carried through the streets until immersed into a river or sea which represents a sending-off of Lord Ganesha towards his residence in Kailash.

This video tries to explain the story of Lord Ganesh and how he came to be in as simple a way as possible. It’s still a complicated and hard to follow story but after three viewings the mythology becomes clearer to understand.