Then and now: The Lord has gone through a sea change

Everything undergoes a change with time. People, lifestyle, thoughts change and its not surprising that even the ways in which festivals are celebrated have undergone a sea change.
Ganesh Chaturthi is being celebrated since generations. TOI panned through the history of Nagpur to find out how the festival has been celebrated in the city. Historian BR Andhare has an extensive collection of books related to the history of Vidarbha.He took us through time and gave many insights about celebrations from the 18th century to now.
British ambassador ST Colebrook was present in Nagpur when King Mudhoji Bhosale celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi in 1787. He wrote that Mudhoji was a big devotee of Lord Ganesh. Despite being sick at that time, the king taking the support of two men personally went to bring the idol of Ganesh to his palace. The royal family walked to the artist’s house and brought the idol to the palace in a specially prepared elephant ‘palkhi’. Colebrook described the idol as being completely saffron in colour and 4 feet tall.
Colebrook mentions that during the time of Bhosales, there was a feeling of secularism in the people. Both Hindus as well as Muslims were present in the king’s court during the daily aarti. And after every aarti, there was a deafening canon salute given to the lord. The evening aarti was followed by a lot of singing and dancing.
There were two groups of dancers called the Ramjaanis and the Kanchanis. While the former danced in front of the idol, the Kanchanis used to entertainment the court.
During the Bhosale period, the idol was kept in the palace for 6 days, from chaturthi to dashami. Jumma tank was used for immersion by the royal family. “The common man used to immerse their idols in the Naik tank, as he was not allowed to immerse their idols in the royal lake,” said Andhare. In the 1800s, a special class of artists originated which were patronized by the Bhosales and given the job of making the idol. That class of artists exists even today in Nagpur. Rings any bells? Those artists are the Chitar Oli idol makers.