Despite myriad themes, rains hamper pandal-hopping

Visakhapatnam: The City of Destiny soaks in festive vibes during ‘Ganesh Chaturthi’ as celebrations stretch up to 21 days maximum from about three days at various pandals.

Among a list of to-be-visited pandals, ‘Bellam’ (jaggery) Ganesh set up at Old Gajuwaka Depot tops the chart. Built by incorporating about 20 tonnes of jaggery sourced from Rajasthan, the massive 75-ft Ganesh idol is one of the major attractions in the city. “After 21 days, we plan to carry out immersion rituals by performing ‘palabhishekam’ to the idol at the venue and the jaggery lumps will be distributed to the devotees. This way, we could save the landfill space too,” mention M. Govardhan, an organiser. It took almost a month to pour life into the idol made of jaggery mounds.

With the theme focusing on ‘Ayodhya Ram Mandir’, a blue-coloured Ganesh idol gives darshan to devotees beside Gadiraju Palace, near Appu Ghar.

At Dondaparthy, a 54-ft tall Ganesh settles along with Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi, while the elephant-headed God gives darshan as Lord Vishnu at Durga theatre road in Madhurawada. Another 89-ft Ganesh pandal was set up at Gajuwaka 100-ft road.

Even the permission to be sought for a no objection certificate to set up pandal themes was made easier this year through ‘ganeshutsav.net’ portal and a number of festival committees have come up with myriad themes, not many could visit temples and carry out pandal-hopping like they do every year due to continuous downpour.

Fortunately, the weather was merciful on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi. However, rains in the evening did dissuade people from pandal-hopping.

Meanwhile, unfavourable climate conditions continued to hamper the festive spirit on Sunday too. According to IMD alerts, similar weather is expected to continue on Monday as well. Organisers find it quite inconvenient to host programmes at the pandals as the areas turned slushy in several neighbourhoods, drawing minimal crowds to the venue.