Click it and Unblock the Notifications
Mah: Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations begin
Mumbai,
Sept
15:
Chants
of
"Ganapati
Bappa
Morya,
Mangala
Murti
Morya" began
resounding
across
Maharashtra
at
the
start
of
the
annual
10-day
Ganesh
Chaturthi
festival
on
Saturday.
The
festival
marks
Lord
Ganesha's
birthday
on
the
fourth
day
of
the
bright
fortnight
of
the
Bhadrapada
month
of
the
Hindu
calendar.
Millions
of
people
are
expected
to
take
part.
Pandals
or
makeshift
tents
with
Ganesh
idols
dot
the
Maharashtra
landscape,
and
in
Mumbai,
the
installation
of
these
idols
in
households
and
in
Mandals
is
being
actively
pursued.
At least 8,000 to 9,000 'Ganesh Mandals' have come up in the city.
Organizers
are
competing
with
each
other
for
the
decking
up
the
idols.
For
example,
at
a
pandal
in
Mumbai"s
Lal
Baugh
area,
the
idol
has
been
decorated
with
nine
kilograms
of
gold
valued
at
8.1
million
rupees.
Half
of
it
was
a
necklace
weighing
four
kilograms
given
by
a
devotee.
Rumours about the mafia sponsoring some of the pandal have been dismissed.
Organizers said they were tired of explaining that the pandal had nothing to do with the gangster.
"Chhota Rajan, a gangster, has nothing to do with this pandal. I have been associated with this pandal for past 30 years," said Satish Balgi, the Secretary of another Ganesh pandal.
Some 7,500 registered organisations hold celebrations in public places in the city, and some of them are over 50 years old.
This year, civic authorities in Mumbai have restricted the height of idols to seven foot or less. Last year, the tallest statues were between 25 to 28 feet.
Over 20,000 police personnel and 2,000 traffic officials have been deployed in the city as a security measure.
Religious bodies too have taken preventive steps to ensure no untoward incident takes place.
"In pandals, metal detectors, circuit TVs, cameras and other facilities have been arranged," said Pandurang Jadhav, the President of the Ganesh Festival Coordination Committee.
In addition to routine patrolling, police in Mumbai have also deployed sniffer dog squads and additional personnel to ensure that the festivities go off smoothly.
Ganesh Chaturthi for years was a personal and private affair. But at the turn of the century, freedom fighter Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak started using it as a platform for political propaganda against British colonial rule.
The festival is hugely popular in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Legend has it that Hindu Goddess Parvati had created Ganesh from a perfumed putty-like substance, used to remove dirt from her body in an ancient self-cleansing ritual, the equivalent of a modern bath.
Parvati's husband Lord Shiva, one of the three most powerful Gods in the Hindu pantheon, flew into rage and beheaded the young lad and barred his entry into Kailash, Shiva's snow-clad mountain abode.
When he later realised that the boy was created by his wife Parvati during his absence, Shiva brought him back to life by slaying an elephant and giving him the animal's head. Thus was created Ganesh, one of the best-loved of Indian gods.
ANI
>
