GANPATI BAPPA A LOT MORE YA!

If you need any more proof that Ganpati, the god of wisdom and intellect, is all-pervasive — countries and cultures no bar — head to Surat’s Dabgarwad this Ganesh Chaturthi. While most Ganpati pandals that leave you mind-blown usually reflect social issues and popular events, Dabgarwad’s Shri Renuka Yuvak Mandal has stuck to just one theme for three decades now —‘Ganesha Abroad’. And every year, devotees eagerly look forward to meeting a new ‘avatar’ of the vighnaharta.Medium108412434 In the past 30 years, the mandal has introduced Ganesha avatars from China, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, Indonesia and Vietnam among others to the devotees. The idea is to celebrate the common mythological threads that connect world cultures and reinforce the concept of ‘vasudhaiva kutumbakam’ (world is a family). Once the mandal committee decides on which avatar should lead the chaturthi celebrations, the local workers begin preparing the idol. The process, they say, is a spiritually exhilarating experience. The organizers and volunteers associated with the mandal fast on all 10 days of the festival, consuming only fruits.Medium108412436 Behind the ideaThe idea of having Global Ganesha as the theme for the Ganpati festival was floated by Pragnesh Chhatriwala, 53. “The elephant god has been my favourite since childhood when my father got me an idol. I never miss participating in the festival. In 1990, when I visited my cousin in Mumbai, I met an MLA who had a huge collection of photographs of Ganesh idols in foreign countries. I requested him to share them with me so that I could make Ganesha idols using them for the Dabgarwad pandal and he readily agreed. And thus began the journey of ‘Ganesha Abroad’.”Medium108412437 A difficult journeyThe mandal members recount how the visarjan of a huge “Tibetan Ganesha” idol left many people injured. “The idol fell on the banks of Tapi and left many people injured. Medium108412438 The mandal stopped making big idols for a couple of years after this incident. But later, they resumed making larger-than-life replicas of the idols as they exist in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Japan, Nepal, Thailand, Singapore, Borneo and Turkistan,” said an organizer.Medium108412439 Among the many famous anecdotes associated with Dabgarwad’s celebrations is the one where a Muslim man lent his factory space to the idol makers to be used as a kiln. This was in 2018. The idol made using paper and organic materials had broken many times while it was being made and so, the factory owner stepped in to help the makers.Medium108412440 The popularity of Dabgarwad’s Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations now reaches fever pitch every year, with devotees eagerly waiting to see where their next Ganesha is from.Medium108412442 “Professors and students visit us for their research on the idols. Parents bring their kids along to show them how revered Ganesha is across the world. A devotee from Pune visits the mandal unfailingly every year. In 2008, our Thai Ganesha won a state award for the best idol,” the organizer added.Medium108412443 Hues of devotion Every year, a 12-foot-tall Ganesha idol is installed near the Vastrapur lake in Ahmedabad. For 26 years now, the decoration of the pandal has been taken care of by 43-year-old Muzaffar Hussain and his father. “I lost my father nine years ago, but the tradition of decorating the Ganesha pandal, which he and former panchayat member Dharmendrasinh Desai began, continues unhindered. This year, we are designing carved wooden screens as well,” says Hussain. The pandal is thronged by political leaders and celebrities every year.Medium108412444 When a Muslim wrestler set a tradition Tushar.Tere@timesgroup.comGanesh Chaturthi in Vadodara is a grand affair, with the festival bringing all classes of people together. But there’s a little-known story about how the city’s tradition of a large-scale community Ganeshotsav started. The protagonist in this story is Jumma Dada, a Muslim wrestler who was a Ganesha devotee and a follower of Lokmanya Tilak’s principles.This famed wrestler in the erstwhile princely state of Baroda started the Sarvajanik Ganesh Mahotsav at his akhada in 1901 at 107 years of age, inspired by Tilak’s initiative to use the festival to unite the people of Maharashtra.Registered in 1880, the vyayam mandir was very popular among youngsters and was also a shelter for freedom fighters. Rajendra Harpale, the managing trustee of Prof Manekrao’s Jumma Dada Vyayam Mandir says, “Tilak made regular visits to Baroda to meet Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III. He learnt about Jumma Dada and on one of his visits, decided to meet him. It was during this meeting that Jumma came up with the idea of organizing a public Ganesh festival at his Vyayam Mandir.”“Jumma Dada started organizing this festival to bring youngsters together and instill a sense of patriotism among them along with celebrations,” Harpale tells TOI. In 1901, he installed a clay Ganesha idol at the akhada. “We have continued with the same look and size of the idol to this day,” says Harpale, who also has pamphlets from that era listing sword fights, wrestling and mal khamb that were held at the akhada during the 10-day festivities.Historian Chandrashekhar Patil says, “Jumma Dada was the first to organize a big, public Ganesha festival. Before that, only a few temples organized them.” After Jumma Dada, his disciple, Prof Manekrao, continued the tradition that lives on. Medium108412445 From demon slayer to serene pose: Idol’s royal transformation Tushar.Tere@timesgroup.comIn olden times, the grand Laxmi Vilas Palace remained out of bounds for commoners, except for one special occasion. The palace’s towering iron gates would be thrown open for 10 days each year to allow citizens into the splendid Durbar Hall where the royal Ganesha idol would be installed.The tradition of allowing commoners into the palace for darshan, started by Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III, continues even today.Every year, thousands queue up at the Laxmi Vilas Palace to get a glimpse of the royal Ganesha, a simple yet mesmerizing idol showing the lord in a seated position. “However, the first Ganesha idol installed at the palace in 1937 depicted the lord slaying a demon named Sindurasur with a trident,” says Mangesh Chavan, a third-generation idol maker for the royal family. “Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III later ordered he wanted the lord in the seated pose. So, my grandfather Sardar Krishnarao Chavan, appointed the state artist by the king, made a sketch of the new idol, which was installed during the reign of Maharaja Pratapsinhrao Gaekwad in 1939.”Since then, the pose of the 90kg, 3-foot-tall idol has remained the same and is made of clay specially brought from Bhavnagar. At the end of 10 days, the family gives the lord a royal send-off in a palanquin. Patan pioneered public Ganeshotsav That freedom fighter Lokmanya Tilak pioneered community Ganesh Chaturthi festivities to unite Indians is a known fact. But long before Tilak’s initiative in Maharashtra in 1893 – 15 years earlier to be precise – Gujarat began hosting the first public festivities. It was during the time when Patan was part of the erstwhile Baroda state. In 1878, some Maharashtrian families in the town came together to form the Shri Gajanan Mandali and installed a sarvajanik Ganpati for the first time. Mahadeo Govind Joshi, an administrator in the Gaekwadi state, was the pioneering force behind the initiative, and had an aim like Tilak’s — to instill unity and integrity among people. “Patan had a considerable Maharashtrian population when the community Ganesh festival started in the 19th century. There are not many families now, but the festival is still celebrated with the same enthusiasm, with our Gujarati brothers also participating,” says Sunil Pagedar, managing trustee of Shri Gajanan Mandali. “This year’s celebrations will be the 146th for the mandali, which has always used clay idols,” he says. A slew of programmes marked the festivities — then held for 11 days —were also attended by Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III.—Tushar Tere