Professionals turn priests to fulfill spiritual duties

THANE: Come Ganeshotsav and the 30-plus Atul Virkar takes a brief exit from the world of glamour and glitz and slips into an angavastram and dhoti to perform the installation rituals for lord Ganesha.
Virkar, an actor, has performed on Marathi stage and also acted in TV soaps. He is among the second generation Brahmin youths who take a brief break from their routine schedules and take up the family tradition of priesthood during Ganeshotsav.
“I used to perform rituals during mahurats and was once asked by Marathi actor, Ashok Shinde, to conduct the installation ceremony of Ganpati Bappa at his home. While it all started as a friendly obligation, several others including Pooja Batra, Naveen Prabhakar, Arun Kadam started inviting me,” says Virkar.
For 37-year-old Aditya Adhyapak, an exports manager in a pharmaceutical company, the switchover from the formal into traditional attire and going house-hopping chanting the Atharva shirsha and performing installation ceremonies for Bappa is like striking a balance between material comforts and spiritual gains.
“The vibrations of mantras chanted during the installation rituals have a very powerful impact and have helped me grow spiritually and stronger mentally,” he says.
While many take up the job for spiritual gains, there are some who do not mind earning an extra buck and utilizing it for social purposes. A media professional from Thane says the festival brings in a good opportunity to do social service. The youngster, who hails from a Brahmin family, performs the rituals voluntarily at his native land in Konkan and donates all the proceedings for funding social causes.
“I don’t conduct rituals for personal gains. Whatever money is offered is diverted for social uplift and infrastructure development in my village,” he says.
There are some who don this avatar just to shoulder the burden of their family members and earn an extra buck.
“I take up this job as my brother and father are often overworked during the season performing rituals at several homes. This not only adds to my contribution to the family, but also allows me to earn some extra money,” says this employee of a private firm in Mumbai.