Goans celebrate this festival by erecting a matoli, a wooden canopy ladened with seasonal produce and foliage. 21 blades of dūrvā grass and hibiscus flowers are fixtures of pūjā made during this festival, which was first popularized by the independence activist Bāl Gangādhar Tilak. Millions flock to Mumbai during this festival to partake in the miravṇūk and visarjan rituals done to the Lālbāg chā Rājā. “Sukha·kartā Duḥ·kha·hartā” and “Vakra·tuṇḍa Mahā·kāya” are bhajans (“BUH-junz”) commonly sung during this (*) late-summer festival, during which one should not look at the moon. Sweet rice flour dumplings filled with jaggery and coconut are most commonly eaten during this holiday, during which large processions immerse clay murtis of a “remover of obstacles” into bodies of water. For 10 points, what late-summer festival celebrates an elephant-headed god’s birth? ■END■
ANSWER: Gaṇesha Chaturthī (“CHUH-tur-tee”) [or Vināyaka Chaturthī or Vināyaka Chavithī or Gaṇeshotsava; accept Goan Chavath; prompt on chaturthī; prompt on Ganesha pūjā; prompt on Ananta Chaturdashī; prompt on Ganesha’s birthday; reject “chaturdashī”] (Miravṇūk and visarjan are the procession and immersion of the murti, respectively.)
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= Average correct buzz position