Dr. Pillai says that there is a technology behind this celebration, in the form of a ritual making of the statue of Ganesha with mud. A mud Ganesha is being made, and then all the karma is transferred to this mud Ganesha, and then after that the mud Ganesha is immersed in the ocean or in a river. As the mud image of Ganesha dissolves, it takes all the karma that you have deposited on this image.