Twin-cities revel in Ganesha festival celebrations

ganesha

HUBLI: Hubli-Dharwad is witnessing heightened fervour and activity as Lord Ganesha is here for his annual twelve-day sojourn.

The grand festival is just not limited to Hindus but also other religious groups. There are around 240 Ganesha mandals registered in the Hubli city alone. This season the twin cities have come up with thousands of big and small pandals in which Ganesha idols of all shapes and sizes are being put up. Idols have been placed on decorated platforms.

Hubli-Dharwad is known for its contemporary theme-based decorations in sarvajanik pandals and enormous Ganesha idols. Like in the past, Ganesha mandals vied with each other in installing idols made with innovative designs.

The attractive idols are made of dry fruits, butter, sugar icing.

As in the past, the tallest idol has been installed at Dajibanpet in the heart of Hubli city. The 22-foot idol is attracting thousands of devotees from even outside the district, as it is believed that all prayers offered here are answered. Decorations at most big mandals are theme-based and themes vary from the religious to the glamorous.

The president of the Dajibanpet Ganesha mandal said, "Our mandal makes it a point to ensure that devotees really get the feel of the place when they visit our pandal."

The Chatrapati Shivaji Ganeshotsava Samiti in Maratagalli has installed an idol made out of 40,000 synthetic pearls. The Gajanana Utsava Mandali of Station Road has created a replica of Panduranga Vittala shrine of Pandarapura with the Bhakta Kumbara alongside. The pandal in Coen Road sents out the message of religious harmony.

No doubt the Ganapati festival remains the biggest public celebration in the state after Dasara. The whole atmosphere here is filled with devotion and the sanctity of the ceremony is maintained during all the 12 days.

The 'visarjanm' or immersion ceremony will be taking place under strict monitoring by district authorities since the city has witnessed many communal clashes during this festival season in the past. Authorities have requisitioned forces from other parts of the state to maintain law and order.