E-Paper
HC dismisses petition demanding visarjan of small idols before Manache Ganpati in Pune
The HC dismissed the petition stating that a decision cannot be arrived at during the ongoing Ganpati festival
The Bombay High Court (HC) on Tuesday dismissed a petition demanding that small Ganpati mandals be allowed their immersion processions on Laxmi road before the five Manache Ganpati mandals. The petition was filed by Badhai Samaj Trust Ganpati mandal president Sanjay Badhai through advocate Asim Sarode on August 29, after which a hearing was held at the Bombay HC on Tuesday. The HC dismissed the petition stating that a decision cannot be arrived at during the ongoing Ganpati festival.
The petition filed by Sanjay Badhai demanded that a time limit be set for the five Manache Ganpati, including Kasba Ganpati followed by Tambdi Jogeshwari Ganpati, Guruji Talim Ganpati, Tulshibaug Ganpati and Kesari Wada Ganpati to pass Laxmi road as part of their immersion processions on the last day of the festival. Sanjay Badhai prayed before the HC to allow small Ganpati mandals to carry out their immersion processions before the five Manache Ganpati mandals on a first-come-first-serve basis to avoid the overall delay in the procession time of Pune city.
As per the Pune city tradition, the immersion procession on the last day starts at 10.30 am with the Pune city mayor, police commissioner and other dignitaries performing aarti before the Kasba Ganpati at Tilak statue chowk in the Mandai area. The Kasba Ganpati is followed by the remaining four Manache Ganpati namely, Tambdi Jogeshwari Ganpati, Guruji Talim Ganpati, Tulshibaug Ganpati and Kesari Wada Ganpati. All five mandals start their immersion procession at Tilak statue chowk via Belbaug chowk and later join Laxmi road till Alka Talkies for the immersion. The procession of the Manache Ganpatis goes on for eight to 10 hours. The main attractions are the dhol pathaks, the traditional costumes, children and women on horses holding zendas (flags) and decorations of the Ganesh raths.
About the HC’s dismissal, Badhai said, “We accept and honour the decision of the honourable court given today and it was our genuine demand on behalf of around 250 to 300 smaller Ganpati mandals. There are hundreds of small Ganpati mandals that want to complete their immersion procession in time and go through Laxmi road but as per tradition, we are allowed only after the processions of the five Manache Ganpati mandals are over. Today evening, we will hold a meeting with all our mandal presidents and volunteers to decide the further plan of action.”
“There is no fight or disappointment amongst us; we respect and cooperate with the Manache and other prominent Ganpati mandals as always. We all want to take the Ganpati festival of Pune ahead in a progressive manner for which this was just an attempt,” he said.
About the HC’s decision, Nitin Pandit, secretary of Tulshibaug Ganpati mandal, said, “We want all the Ganpati mandals to celebrate this festival together and take it to a global level. We have nothing to say about the petition filed and the HC’s decision. The only thing is that we will try to complete our immersion procession as early as possible this year to make way for other small Ganpati mandals on Laxmi road.”
