Pandemic brings to a halt Pune’s famed 127-year-old visarjan tradition

PUNE: The Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav started by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak in 1893 to unify the people against the British has a 127-year-old immersion procession tradition on Anant Chaturdashi in Pune. It will be broken on Tuesday.
The procession has been cancelled this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the past, there have been restrictions, and a delayed procession, but never has it been completely cancelled.

Every year, the procession begins at Mahatma Phule Mandai with the five manache (revered) Ganapati idols __ Kasba, Tambdi Jogeshwari, Guruji Talim, Tulshibaug and Kesari Wada__ leading it. They are accompanied by scores of dhol-tasha (drums) troupes and their display and decorated tableaux watched by lakhs of people who crowd the vicinity.
The manache Ganapati are followed by hundreds of other mandals in the main procession route on Laxmi Road. Other mandals take two other roads. All three routes converge at Alka Talkies Chowk, before the mandals with their idols cross Sambhaji Bridge across the Mutha River to immerse their idols along the ghats. The procession, under tight police security, often spans 30 hours.
Social activist Anand Saraf, associated with Pune’s grandest festival for 50 years, said neither did the Spanish Flu in 1918 nor did any war lead to a cancellation of the procession.
“In 1917, the British government had objected to the procession, but 90 mandals participated in it. Except for a 40-day delay in 1942, the procession has always taken place,” Saraf said.
History scholar Mandar Lawate said the plague in 1897, the Spanish flu and World War I did not affect the festivities. The British had cancelled the procession and imposed a curfew during the Ganeshotsav celebrations in September 1942.
“Most mandals had then conducted rituals and kept the idols till they got permission to conduct the procession on November 3, that year. Subdued Ganeshotsav celebrations were witnessed in 1965 due to the India-Pakistan War, and riots. The procession was not cancelled. It was conducted until sunset without any fanfare,” Lawate said.
Pune’s mayor Murlidhar Mohol said citizens have respected their appeals and conducted immersions at home. “Close to 40,000 idols were immersed in the mobile tanks made available by the Pune Municipal Corporation or handed over at the collection centres. Many immersed the idols at home. Other Puneites must follow this practice on Tuesday too,” he added.