Hyderabad(Hyd): Each yr. on Ganesh Chaturthi, the celebrated Khairtabad idol gets a massive welcome by massive hordes. Rich & poverty-stricken alike check the massive pandal & offer their own first-day prayers.
Ganesh Chaturthi, (or) Vinayaka Chavithi, kicks off 9 to 10 days of festivities that end with the immersion of the idol. The centralized immersion procession of Lord Ganesha in the end of the 11th day is one such largest annual events of the city & draws hundreds of large number of visitors.
However this yr. the festivities are various.
Khairtabad idol is lowered to a humble 9 ft, that stood in 61-feet previous year, & celebrations started on a somber note. The pandal is almost deserted, except for some volunteers who have been witnessed wearing face masks. As the state’s COVID-19 instances are on the raise, government-imposed constraints made the festivities subdued.
Celebrations in biography
Some of the historians believe that the earliest instances of Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations could be traced return to the times when Satavahana, Rashtrakuta & Chalukya dynasties decided the Deccan that is from 271 BC to 1190 AD. Some historic reports also suggest that Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations have been started by Chatrapati Shivaji to foster culture & nationalism. It has been continued during this rule of Peshwas, for whom, Lord Ganesh has been a family (4) deity. However that wasn’t in this part of the Deccan.
Although, the celebrations have been reloaded within the yr. 1893. Bal Gangadhar Tilak utilized Ganesh Chaturthi as a domestic festival ‘to bridge the gap between the Brahmins & the non-Brahmins.’ In a time when people social, political gatherings have been banned by this British, he organised Ganesh Utsav as a religious, social, & political tool that provided as a gathering place for citizens of all castes & communities.
In Hyderabad(Hyd) too, a small pandal with a one-foot Ganesh idol has been set up in Khairtabad by a little well-known human S Shankaraih, who imagined such celebrations would bring citizens together. & just how that small celebration in Khairtabad grew in terms of size & fame, is known.
The Bhagyangar Utsav Committee, formed within the yr. 1980 within the patronage of the afterwards Chief Minster Marri Chenna Reddy, centralized the ten-day festivities in this city.
COVID-19 constraints & politics
On Aug 17, the Telangana (TL) govt declared that no Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations within the state as COVID-19 instances continue to raise. CM K Chandrashekar Rao stated that no permission going to be given for the mass installation of Ganesh idols in people places. Muharram procession (Aug 30) going to also watch similar constraints. Hyderabad(Hyd) Commissioner of Police, Anjani Kumar tweeted that events in people places wouldn’t be permitted & inquired the citizens to do Ganesh puja in house.
BJP rallies restriction on festival
Although, the call to ban Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations on a huge scale as in the last ran into stiff opposition from that festival committees & Bharatiya Janata Party.
Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samithi gen. secretary Dr. Bhagwanth Rao demanded that Ganesh mandaps can be raised in buildings, gated communities, function halls, & bastis where COVID-19 didn’t spread. “There is no want to seek permission from that police for installation of the idols,” he stated in a press conference & added further, “a mere intimation to the regional PS (police station) is sufficient.”
The BJP lawmaker from Goshamahal, T Raja Singh also resisted the constraints on Ganesh festivities. “There were records that the COVID-19 epidemic might continue until next yr.. Does it mean that we block praying & celebrating until afterwards?” he inquired.
Member of Parliament from Karimnagar & BJP State President Bandi Sanjay Kumar stated the govt has been hurting Hindu feelings by curtailing the festivities within the name of COVID-19. “When the lock-down has been in enforce, the govt permitted to celebrate Ramzan & is as of now curtailing Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations. We condemn this anti-Hindu stand,” he stated in a video footage announcement.