Mumbai: Chants of 'Ganpati Bappa Morya' rent
the air as lakhs of Mumbaikars on Thursday welcomed their favourite
deity with fervour and gaiety amid celebrations kicking off
the 11-day festival of Ganesh Chaturthi.
People sang bhajans and offered prayers amid bursting of
crackers and beating of drums. Devotees feasted on favourite
delicacies like 'karanji' and 'modak'.
Mumbai
Ranging in different sizes and shapes, idols of Lord
Ganesh were installed in pandals across Mumbai after the
traditional pooja with the 12-foot tall idol 'Lalbaughcha
Raja' in Central Mumbai stealing the show.
According to the local civic body, 1,91,000 idols were
installed across the city out of which 10,350 are at Ganesh
Mandals (associations) and 1,80,650 at individual households.
Keeping up with the tradition of
Ganeshotsav, several politicans in Maharashtra, including
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, celebrated the festival by
installing Ganesh idols in their homes.
Meanwhile, the presence of anti-graft crusader Anna
Hazare was felt at Ganesh mandals across the city, as several
volunteers were seen wearing Gandhi caps with the words 'Mii
Anna Hazare' (I am Anna Hazare) written on it.
Nagpur
In Nagpur, heavy showers today greeted Lord Ganesh on its
ten-day sojourn as drenched devotees danced on the city roads,
flooded due to incessant rains.
The city police have given permission to 961 public
bodies (sarwajanik mandals) to install big size idols. A
majority of them (294) are in old city area in Mahal which is
thickly populated.
Nashik
In Nashik, crackers and beating of drums with sprinkling
of gulal, marked the beginning of ten-day ganesh festival as
people brought the elephant headed god through processions.
More than 1,000 ganesh mandals installed idols in the
city amid elaborate security arrangements.
Politicians celebrate
Keeping up with the tradition of
Ganeshotsav, several politicans in Maharashtra, including
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, celebrated the festival by
installing Ganesh idols in their homes.
Keeping up with the tradition of
Ganeshotsav, several politicans in Maharashtra, including
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, celebrated the festival by
installing Ganesh idols in their homes.
Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Shiv Sena leader
Manohar Joshi, BJP leader Gopinath Munde were among others who
installed the idol of the elephant-headed god at their homes.
State PWD Minister Chhagan Bhujbhal performed the
traditional 'puja' at a Sarvajanik Ganesh mandal in Mazgaon.
Bollywood celebrates
Several Bollywood celebrities too
welcomed Lord Ganesha in their houses and extended their good
wishes to fans on the auspicious occasion.
Celebrities who installed the idol of the elephant god at
their homes include Salman Khan, Jeetendra, Nana Patekar, Rani
Mukherjee, Suniel Shetty, Jackie Shroff, Akshay Kumar,
Govinda, Shilpa Shetty, Raveena Tandon and Shreyas Talpade and
among others.
The Ganesh idol at RK Studios in suburban Chembur is the
oldest with many queuing up for offering prayers during the
11-day festivities.
Actor Jackie Shroff has brought in the deity at his
residence in Bandra for one-and-half days. "The Ganpati is
made from mitti shadul. We will immerse the idol at home in a
big vessel," he said.
Actor Shreyas Talpade, who celebrates Ganesh Chaturthi
was spotted with wife Deepti carrying Ganpati on their car in
a procession while dancing away with the revellers.
Karnataka
Prayers were offered in temples and
at community pandals as Ganesh festival was celebrated
across Karnataka with religious gaiety and fervour.
Devotees brought idols of the elephant-headed God to their
homes and offered sweet delicacies 'modak' and 'poli'.
Resplendent rangolis adorned houses while several temples
were decked up for the occasion.
Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda along with his family
members visited the Ganesha temple at Malleshwaram here early
in the morning and offered prayers.
Tamil Nadu
In Tamil Nadu Vinayaka Chaturthi was celeberated in Tamil Nadu with religious fervour as devotees thronged temples to offer prayers.
People offered prayers to Ganesha, the God of knowledge
and remover of obstacles, and offered him 'kozhukattai', a
sweet south Indian dish.
In some temples, 'Ganapathy Homam', a ritual seeking
peace and prosperity, was performed as early as 5 am.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and Governor K
Rosaiah greeted the people on the occasion.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, September 01, 2011, 23:02