Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Lord Ganesh received an overwhelming welcome at homes and at public mandals on Wednesday with religious gaiety and enthusiasm. Ganesh idols were installed at around 3 lakh houses and around 3,000 small and big Ganesh Mandals in the city. Grand processions started in the morning to take Ganpati Bappa to homes and various localities, and continued until around 11 p.m. The entire sky echoed with the sound of dhol and tashas.
The devotees were engrossed in the showers of gulal and amid the sounds of the traditional musical instruments. Considering the ill effects of DJs and laser rays, the Ganesh Mahasangh, Ganesh Mandals, people's representatives, and the administration had appealed to the people to avert the use of DJs and laser rays. People positively responded to the appeal.
The Ganesh idol stalls were erected at 16 places in the city. People started crowding the market from Tuesday evening, and the crowd continued until Wednesday evening. Many Ganesh Mandals had booked the idols in advance and took the idols to the respective destinations on Wednesday. People were seen purchasing puja articles in various chowks. The household Ganpatis were installed until 4 p.m. in the evening, but the Ganesh Mandals' Ganpati installation continued until late at night. The devotees will pray for prosperity, peace, and happiness in the coming ten days.
Considering the environmentally friendly celebration, most of the people opted for showering flowers instead of gulal during the procession. The flowers for decoration were brought from Beed, Gevrai, Jalna, Ambad, Vaijapur, Nipani, and other places. Shevanti, marigold, and roses were in great demand for decoration and showering during the procession.
People's representatives and the administration appealed to the people to use traditional bands instead of DJs and laser rays. Hence, the traditional band troops were in great demand. The dying tradition of band troops got a new life during this Ganesh Festival.
