The city is witnessing a growing shift towards immersing Ganpati idols on the second day itself rather than waiting for the traditional fifth, seventh or tenth day as can be seen from the visarjan (immersion) statistics and on the streets during the Ganesh festival.
According to reports, the number of Ganpati idols immersed on the second day of the festival has steadily risen over the past three years with around 12,670 second-day immersions in 2023; which rose to 15,762 in 2024; and to 17,774 in 2025, which is among the largest second-day visarjan turnouts ever. This is a significant shift as earlier, many households traditionally kept Ganpati idols for five, seven or even 10 days before immersing them.
The reasons behind the change are varied. Families now prefer shorter celebrations due to busy lifestyles, school schedules, and work commitments. At the same time, the popularity of ‘Dekhavas’ (decorative themes and creative displays) has encouraged many to keep idols for one or two days so that friends, relatives and neighbours can visit, enjoy the festivities, and complete visarjan without waiting for a longer period.
Minal Karnik, a resident of Kothrud, shared her family’s experience and said, “For many years, we used to keep Ganpati for five or seven days, but now we prefer visarjan on the second day itself. This way, our relatives and friends get to visit, and at the same time, the celebrations don’t stretch too long. It feels convenient and still very festive.”
{{/usCountry}}Minal Karnik, a resident of Kothrud, shared her family’s experience and said, “For many years, we used to keep Ganpati for five or seven days, but now we prefer visarjan on the second day itself. This way, our relatives and friends get to visit, and at the same time, the celebrations don’t stretch too long. It feels convenient and still very festive.”
{{/usCountry}}Similarly, college student Aniket Shinde from Shivajinagar noted the generational change and said, “Earlier, many households in our area would wait till the seventh or tenth day for visarjan. Now, most of my friends’ families complete visarjan on the second day itself. This allows people to step out and see the ‘Dekhavas’ of the Ganesh mandals in the city while still enjoying Ganpati at home for a short time.”
Civic officials too have taken note of this trend. Sandeep Kadam, head of the Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC’s) solid waste department, said, “Our teams have been working from the first day of Ganeshotsav and because more people now do visarjan on the second day, the pressure on cleaning has increased. To manage this, we have started 24-hour waste collection in three shifts, especially near pandals, visarjan ghats, and main roads. Extra vans have been deployed to carry the waste, and strict action will be taken against those who litter. We have also put up over 550 portable toilets and are requesting citizens to use dustbins and help keep the city clean.”