Ganesh festival kicks off in Delhi

The ten-day long 'Ganesh Utsava' commenced here on Monday with traditional gaiety and fervor with a number of pandals coming up across the city.

Lord Ganesha, the son of Lord Shiva and Parvati, is widely worshipped as the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune and traditionally invoked at the beginning of any new venture.

The main celebration is being held at the Maharashtra Sadan. Altogether 50 small and big pandals have been set up in various parts of the city.

A number of cultural programmes by children are being organised in various parts of the city including in central and east Delhi.

Prominent societies and organisations install Ganesh idol for 10 days and various cultural programmes like Bhajan Sandhya, Sangeet Sandhya, folksongs, dance, plays and dramas are held.

Renowned artistes also come in from Maharashtra to perform in Delhi.

"We have been organising the festival at Maharashtra Sadan since 1998. We have established a 7-feet tall idol which has been specially brought from Mumbai. Our idol is eco-friendly," Arya Gupta, president of Sarvjanik Ganeshotsava Samiti told IANS here.

He also said that that every evening there would be staged music and dance performances, like 'bhakti-geet, and 'laavni', at the Maharashtra Sadan by Artistes, who are mainly from Delhi and Mumbai. There will also be food stalls selling all kinds of Maharashtrian delicacies like batata vada, bhel puri, paav bhaji etc.

"The food items will of course be charged except on Saturday when 'mahaprasad' will be served. It is the equivalent of what we call 'bhandara' or 'langar' in north India," Gupta said.

A number of big pandals have been erected by various social organisations across the city including Ganesh Seva Manadal in Laxmi Nagar, Anand Van Sanskriti Samiti, Paschim Vihar and Chhatrapati Shivaji Marathi Mandal, Karol Bagh.

--IANS

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