Mumbai: Diwali weekend marks gradual revival of festival economy

MUMBAI: Bazaars in Dadar, Crawford Market, Andheri and

Bandra

were filled with shoppers Friday on the eve of the biggest Hindu festival of Diwali. Saturday's Narak Chaturdashi marks the main ritual of Lakshmi Puja whose mahurat falls between 6.01-8.01pm in Mumbai.

The day begins with abhyangsnan for the South Indian community and follows with feasting, predominantly on vegetarian items.

Certain temples like Swaminarayan,

Mumbadevi

and Mahalaxmi commonly perform Chopdi pujan on Diwali day as Gujarati and Marwari businessmen open new account books on this occasion. Yet, the shadow of the Covid-19 lockdown has meant that the ritual is either cancelled or downsized this year. The new

Vikram Samvat

2077 will begin on a muted note as places of worship remain closed for devotees.

Lights, decorations and feast elements of the festival are on prominent display, though. Traditional Diwali faral items like chakli, chivda, anarse, chirote, shakkarpare and rava and besan laddoos are fresh, last minute buys on the shopping list of most households. Women's cooperatives like Kutumb Sakhi have bravely kept up the tradition of manufacturing and selling these items, although the orders are nowhere close to the volume of past years.

Local housewives and stores are filling the gap. In Dadar, the Joshi Family Store, now in its 75th year, has seen business drop by approximately 25% owing to the Covid-19 lockdown. Owner Shekhar Joshi said, "Many longtime customers who would come from Virar and Kalyan could not do so this year owing to restrictions on train travel. But we have accepted the fact that corona virus has changed the business scenario. Many other buyers are using private vehicles to come and pick up faral, and we are delivering to nearby areas, like Worli, Prabhadevi and Mahim." Joshi's chakli and besan laddoos are the pick of the season.

The Bengali community celebrates Kali Puja on the night of Diwali. Bengal Club is celebrating its 85th year of Kali Puja with traditional rituals at its Kali Mata temple situated at Shivaji Park. "We have been organising this puja since 1935. On Saturday the ritual starts at 9.30pm followed by pushpanjali at 12.30am and bhog aarti at 1.00am," said spokesperson Prasoon Rakshit.

"We worship Dakhhini Kali having four hands. We do not offer any alcohol as we don't feel that is an absolute necessity. Bengal Club does not offer animal sacrifice either, instead we offer gourd or pumpkin. In contrast to general belief , we do not perform Tantrik Puja," he said.

This season's celebration is devoid of public gathering or distribution of bhog prasad. The puja and havan will be streamed online on YouTube and Facebook.

Meanwhile, Friday's Dhanteras saw modest trade with jewellers keeping stores open until 9.00pm on average. "We are witnessing floating crowds, with a few customers staying back to make actual purchases. It was expected. In fact we did fairly good business at Dussehra which was heartening amid Covid season," said Pradeep Madaye, manager of Waman Hari Pethe Sons in

Dadar East

.