Mythology dominates Ganesh fest themes

IT''s a month before the city''s annual festive indulgence, the Ganesh festival, begins on August 31. Preparations are on in full swing and the city''s Ganesh mandals have been busy creating themes for this year''s Sarvajanik Ganesh Festival.
Mandals like the Srimant Dagduseth Halwai Sarvajanik Ganesh Mandal, Khadakmal Sarvajanik Ganesh Ustav Mandal, Hirabaug Mitra Mandal, Ahkil Navi Peth Hathi Ganapati Mandal, Tulsibaug, Hutama Babugenu Mandal Trust and the Akhil Mandai Sarvajanik Ganesh Ustav Mandal, spend lakhs of rupees to create the most beautiful decorations to enthrone Lord Ganesh during the festival.
This year, most of the mandals are sticking with mythological themes. Khadakmal Sarvajanik Ganesh Ustav Mandal is planning a scene from the Dyaneshwari. "We are depicting a scene where Sant Dynaneshwar is shown using a ''still wall'' as a vehicle to meet Sant Changdev riding on a tiger," explains Sanjay Balgude, chairperson of the mandal. It''s a 20-foot set decoration complete with movements created by Balaji Gajul.
"For the last 10 years we have depicted scenes from the lives of saints. The idea is to create awareness among youngsters of the history of our saints. Besides, we are sticking to the idea of Lokmanya Tilak who wanted to use the Ganesh festival as a mouthpiece to discuss social issues," explains Balgude.
Hirabaug Mitra Mandal is celebrating their 34th anniversary and have been famous for their innovative decorations. This year they plan to show the Samudra Manthan (churning of the ocean) for which they have created a 40 by 40 ft and 30 ft high mandal with a tank containing 85,000 of water. For the last two months engineer Nitin Wadekar and artist Madhavrao Pimple have been working on the sets.
"We have 32 motorised models of devas and asuras churning the ocean. All the 14 ratnas will be thrown out of the sea during the churning with the help of the pneumatic pumps," explains Rambhau Pardeshi, the mandal''s chairperson.
Akhil Navi Peth Hathi Ganpati Mandal will be depicting the burning of Lanka. Chairman of the mandal, Shyam Mankar, proudly informs us that they will be having a 28-ft tall statue of Hanuman. This set is being made by Pandare Chal-chitra from Ambarnath.
Vivek Khatavkar,known for his set decorations throughout the city, is busy with three orders this year. For Tulsibaug Sarvajanik Ganesh Ustav Mandal, he is creating the ''Gajendra Moksh'',where Lord Vishnu is shown sitting on a flying eagle helping an elephant free his foot from the jaws of a crocodile.
"He is also working on a concept for the Akhil Mandai Sarvajanik Mandal''s immersion procession. They want either the Jaganath Puri Rath or the Konark Sun Temple Rath," he says.
The Hutama Babugenu Mandal Trust, chairman, Balasaheb Marne informs PT that they will depict a scene from the film Devdas, re-created by Nitin Desai. "We have spent about Rs six lakh for this set," he says.
While Srimant Dagduseth Halwai Sarvajanik Ganesh mandal have decided to make a replica of a new temple they plan to build, M L Kulkarni, their in-house designer says, "Whenever we are creating anything for God, it is done using the shastras and vedas."