Ganpati celebrations at home reduce over the years in Pune
Some of the Ganpati mandals too have started holding immersion processions on the eighth or ninth day of the festiva
As Thursday was the third day of the Ganpati festival, Gauri puja was held across households in the city. Come Saturday, many more Ganesh idols will be immersed as it is the fifth day of the festival. It has been seen over the last two to three years that the number of days that people keep Ganesh idols at home has reduced from the earlier 10 to five, three or even one-and-a-half days.
Shantanu Gokhale, an IT professional, said, “We used to celebrate Ganpati for 10 days each year for many years but after the Covid-19 pandemic, my father passed away and my wife and I are both working professionals. It was not easy for us to manage the 10-day festival and take so much leave so we decided to cut it short to one-and-a-half day Ganpati celebrations at home. Accordingly, we immerse our idol after one-and-a-half days.”
A large number of Punekars were seen immersing their Ganesh idols in makeshift/artificial tanks created for the purpose by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). Another citizen, Kiran Rathi, said, “Earlier, it was a family tradition of celebrating Ganpati for 10 days along with Gauri puja. Since the last few years however, we have reduced the number of days of celebrations and starting this year, we will have five-day Ganpati celebrations at home. The main reason behind it is that everyone is busy with their own lives and so we have kept it short.”
Interestingly, some of the Ganpati mandals too have started holding immersion processions on the eighth or ninth day of the festival rather than on the 10th day. Mangesh Chavan, president of Veer Tarun Ganpati Mandal on Sinhagad Road, said, “For the last seven years, we take out our immersion procession on the eighth day of Ganpati to avoid crowding on the last (10th) day.”
