This year’s Ganesh Chaturthi festivities to be devoid of pomp and show

HYDERABAD:  Coronavirus  has played party-pooper with Ganesh nimajjan festivity in Hyderabad. The mammoth Ganesh procession, which is considered the soul of Hyderabad, would be a tame affair on the appointed day on September 1 this year. There would be no main central Ganesh procession with imposing idols inching towards Hussain Sagar lake on trucks and the huge cranes immersing the idols on Necklace Road would be singularly absent this time.

There would be no carnival-like atmosphere on Necklace Road and no anxious policemen keeping a watch on the milling crowds to ensure nothing goes awry. Members of Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samithi (BGUS), who supervise the Ganesh celebrations in the city, said on Monday that the festivities this year would be very simple without any fanfare. “We have decided to do away with pomp and fanfare to prevent the spread of Coronavirus,” BGUS General Secretary Bhagwant Rao said.

The 10-day festival will begin on ‘Ganesh Chaturthi’ which falls on August 22 and the immersion of idols will be on September 1. Bhagwant Rao said that the BGUS asked the Ganesh Mandapam organisers to conduct the festivities on a very low key and not organise contests and competitions. “They are being asked to follow the guidelines issued by the Central and State governments,” he said. The Mandapam organisers who are installing idols should keep sanitisers at the pandals, maintain social distance and avoid large gathering of devotees.

‘Immerse Ganesh idols in nearby water bodies’

Not more than four members wearing masks should be present at the stage, and they should sanitise their hands before touching anything in the pandal. “We have been calling up all Ganesh Mandapam organisers in the city and asking them to go for simple celebrations. We are suggesting that they not organise any competitions with respect to the hight of the Ganesh idols, but to simply perform the puja and enforce social distancing in the area. No one should point a finger at us saying that we are responsible for the further spread of Coronavirus in the city,’’ said Bhagwant Rao. “The organisers should immerse the idols in water bodies close to their places. They could be ponds or even small water bodies where the ritual could be completed with a limited number of devotees,” he said. “There is no need for anyone to rush to Hussain Sagar lake to immerse any idols,” he added.