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Residents mark Ganesh Chaturthi amid uncertainty over festive days
Bommai on Friday said that he has asked revenue minister R Ashok to speak with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to get a clarification on the issue.
Even as people were seen visiting temples to get a glimpse of the deity and take part in the festivities, confusion continues to engulf the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in Karnataka and across Bengaluru as the Basavaraj Bommai government is yet to clarify on the number of days the festival will be allowed.
Bommai on Friday said that he has asked revenue minister R Ashok to speak with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to get a clarification on the issue.
However, the BBMP has stated that it will decide on a “case-by-case” basis on where it can allow the festival to go on for five days. The civic body, however, maintained that the celebrations, according to the government orders, are limited to just three days.
“In Bengaluru it has always been three days, but the government order said that the outer limit (of the city) is five days,” Randeep D, the special commissioner (health) and BBMP’s zonal commissioner (Mahadevapura) said on Friday.
He added that the BBMP expects all public celebrations to end by three days but that the officials will take a “reasonable call” based on specific requests.
The oral statements with no written order have fueled confusion among the people in Bengaluru where Ganesh Chaturthi will be celebrated in a muted manner for a second year in a row due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the impending third wave of infections.
Amid the uncertainty and gloom, a temple in Bengaluru decorated itself with eco-friendly items, which caught the eyes of several devotees.
We celebrate it (Ganesha festival) every year and this temple is very famous for all those decorations. Every year they have a different concept. This year it is corn and last year I guess it was grapes,” said one devotee at the Sri Sathya Ganapathi Temple in Bengaluru.
The temple was decorated with nine different types of flowers, corn, banana and pineapples. The corn was hung from the ceilings and droned the pillars of the temple.
“Actually this year we got the news from government on Monday so that we can do Alankar (decorations) only in the temple and not outside. Otherwise, we would have installed a 30 feet high Ganesh idol with different types of items ,” Mohan Raju, the former deputy mayor of Bengaluru said on Friday. He added that after the three-day celebrations, the fruits will be removed and given back to devotees to avoid any of it going for a waste.
Though there were strict guidelines mentioned at the entrance of such temples across the state, people inside were seen moving around freely and at times in violation of Covid norms.
Members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Thursday had stormed into the BBMP headquarters in Bengaluru to protest the city administration’s decision to reduce public celebration of Ganesh puja to three days. VHP workers also carried a large Ganesh statue with them that they placed in front of the city administration headquarters in protest.
“The government will not decide how we will practice our religion and they will not decide how we will keep out Ganesh idols. We will continue to do what has been practiced so far. I don’t follow the government’s order, I will only follow what my parents and gurus have taught me,” said Shashi Kant, one of the VHP workers who stormed into the BBMP headquarters, Hindustan Times had reported.
Ashok, on September 6, had announced after a meeting with the chief minister, officials and other experts, that the government has approved five days, starting September 10, to celebrate Ganesh festival.
People were seen thronging markets and other busy areas of the city as festival shopping took precedence over the threat of contracting the infection in Bengaluru which is home to almost a quarter of Karnataka’s over 70 million population. The entire locality of KR Market, one of Bengaluru’s busiest business spaces, was abuzz with people all jostling for festival-related shopping.
The government was forced to cede to the demands of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators and other right wing groups who demanded that there be no restrictions on the celebration of “Hindu festivals”.
Ashok had earlier said that the celebrations will be permitted only in taluks or administrative units where the Covid-19 positivity rate is lower than 2%. The government had also restricted orchestra, cultural programmes and processions during these five days.
The Karnataka government in an order, specifying extension of guidelines for surveillance, containment and caution on Thursday night stated that the Covid-19 situation had been on the decline.
“The state as a whole has an average case positivity rate of 0.73% and the districts have a case positivity rate of less than 2%. Hence, to sustain the substantial gains that have been achieved due to stringent containment measures, there is a need to continue with the existing measures along with focused surveillance, testing-tracking-treatment, vaccination, micro containment measures, and strict adherence to Covid-19 appropriate behaviour,” the order stated.
It further stated that guidelines for extension will be in force up to 6 am on September 27.
