BY TTT NEWS SERVICE
MUMBAI, 23 AUGUST
After a gap of two years, open celebrations of annual Ganesh Chaturthi in Mumbai, the financial capital of India will be held this year with more pomp and grandeur.
The ten day long Ganesh Chaturthi festival will begin on 31 August. Huge gatherings are expected in Ganesh Chaturthi this year in Mumbai, Pune and in other parts of Maharashtra.
In the past two years, due to the outbreak of the covid -19 pandemic the height of the Lord Ganesh idols have been restricted to four feet only and the celebrations have been muted , by the then Maharashtra government, but this year all those restrictions have been withdrawn as Mumbai gears up for the annual mega Ganesh Chaturthi Festival with more pomp and grandeur in 2022.
The South Western Railways have already announced running of special trains from Yesvantpur in Bengaluru to Vasco Da gama in Goa on the occasion of the ganesh Chaturthi festival to meet the huge rush of passengers.
The artisans have been very busy giving the last minute touches to the colorful clay idols of Lord Ganesha in various parts of the state.
According to the age old traditions, the Ganesha idol arrives in Lakhsmi Vilas palace in Vadodara on the first day of Ganesh Chaturthi, amidst the music of shehnai in the background and chantings of ‘Ganpati Bappa Moraya’ by the pilgrims.
This year already the demand for pandits, idol makers, mandap decorators, flower dealers, and sweet (modak) shops are very high in cities like Mumbai, Pune, Nashik and Nagpur.
According to historian V.K.Rajwade, the earliest Ganesh festival celebrations can be traced back to the reign of Satavahana, Rashtrakuta and Chalukya dynasties. Centuries later Lord Ganesha was the family deity of the Peshwas. Nanasaheb Peshwe made this festival grandeur and a public festival.
In 1893, freedom fighter and social reformist ,Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak transformed the annual domestic festival in Maharashtra into a large public event. Bal Gangadhar Tilak encouraged installation of big Ganesha idols at various public places in pavilions , immersions of the idols in processions to rivers and seas on the tenth and last day of the festival ( Anant Chaturdashi), a tradition that continues unbroken till date.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has directed that citizens and those in charge of organising various pandals only submerge the idols of Lord Ganesha made of Plaster of Paris ( PoP) only in artificial lakes.
This year the Directorate of Tourism is organising guided tours in Mumbai and Pune on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi. The cost for Indian nationals will be Rs.850 per person and for foreign nationals Rs.1600 per person in Mumbai and Rs. 350 and Rs.550 for Indians and Foreigners respectively in Pune.
In Mumbai it will be from 9 AM to 2 PM and in Mumbai it will be from 9 AM to 12 PM. The guided tours will begin on 31 August and will end on 9 September.
Tourists will also be taken for a visit to Ganesha idol making workshop in Parel.
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