Ganesh fest round corner, city on spiritual high

This year’s Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations beginning from September 19 is going to be a grand affair for residents of the Millennium City.

This year’s Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations beginning from September 19 is going to be a grand affair for residents of the Millennium City.

HT Image

Various cultural associations across Gurgaon are gearing up to put their best foot forward to celebrate Lord Ganesha’s birthday. With barely four days to go, all association members are on their toes, arranging the paraphernalia, sweets, decorations, events, flowers, fixing puja timings and last but not the least, choosing a grand idol of Lord Ganesh.

“We start planning almost a year in advance because there are finances involved and we need to plan events and invitations have to be sent. All this takes a lot of time,” said Arvind Joshi, president of Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samiti Gurgaon.

There are several cultural programmes and competitions lined up for both children and adults – singing, dancing, drawing, rangoli, fancy dress and cooking.

Though the preparations may not be very over the top, all the action is taking place behind the scenes. “We will start setting up pandals Monday onwards. The idol will be brought on Tuesday night but we will keep it covered till Wednesday morning,” said GV Ramesh of Telugu Welfare Association Gurgaon, who has been busy with the fest’s preparations for nearly two months.

“The response is growing each year. This year we expect nearly 600 people to visit our pandal, almost double of last year’s turnout,” said Anil Dodiya, member of Gujrat Ganesh Mahotsav.