Tirupati Varasidhi Vinayaka Mahotsava Committee calls for low key Ganesh fete in pilgrim city

Tirupati: Keeping in view the pandemic Covid-19, Tirupati Varasidhi Vinayaka Mahotsava Committee (TVVMC) decided not to conduct the public celebration of Vinayaka Chavithi festival and also the mass immersion of Ganesh idols this year in the city.

TVVMC which met here on Friday wanted the public to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi fete in their homes with small clay idols avoiding any social gatherings and dissolve the idols in the home itself. Committee convener Samanchi Srinivas, speaking to media, said as there was no let up in the rapid increase of Covid cases in the pilgrim city, where the total cases crossed 7,000 revealing severity of the pandemic in the city, the Committee decided against mass

celebration of the fete. However, the festival will be observed on a low key at all Vinayaka temples in the city where only 2 feet high clay idols would be installed duly following Covid restrictions and devoid of pandals, sound systems and gathering of devotees on August 22, the day of Vinaka Chavithi. The public following social distance can offer pujas to the idols installed at the shrines and later in the evening, the idols will be dissolved in a simple ceremony on their premises, he explained.

The Committee since two decades has been spearheading the celebration of Vinayaka Chavithi on a massive scale but this time it was compelled to suspend the mass celebrations in the city, Srinivas said making it clear that there will be no mass immersion of idols in Vinayaka Sagar tank this time.

He urged the public to cooperate for the celebration of the festival in homes devoid of any fanfare, keeping in view the severity of pandemic in the city to ensure the safety of denizens. Committee members Gopinath Reddy and others were present.