Families on Chowpatty beach, one of the many beaches in Mumbai where, at the end of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival, statues of Ganesh which have been displayed in homes thoughout the city are immersed in the sea. During the ten-day festival virtually every street in Mumbai erects a statue of Ganesh, the Hindu elephant deity. This has been the city's most popular celebration ever since the 1880s when it became a focus for India's struggle for independence and resistance against the British, who had banned all public assemblies.