The 11-day festivities of public celebrations of Ganesh festival began in the twin cities of Hubballi Dharwad on Tuesday with various Ganesh mandals taking out processions before installation and then installing idols at specially erected Ganesh pandals.
As it has been seen normally, the installation processions began on Tuesday afternoon and continued late into the night. Members of various mandals first carried out the installation of idols at their respective houses before setting out to participate in the installation of idols of their Ganesh mandals.
While workers and artisans were busy giving the final touches to the Ganesh pandals of various sizes and shapes, members of Ganesh mandals, accompanied by devotees, took out processions carrying idols of Lord Ganesh in decorated vehicles.
A majority of the vehicles had music systems mounted on them, while some had invited folk troupes to make the processions colourful and vibrant.
The processions beginning from the workshops of idol-makers concluded at the respective Ganesh pandals in different localities.
As the police had made elaborate arrangements to streamline traffic, the processions were taken out according to the time slots allotted to them and were escorted by police personnel. The devotees danced to the beats of hit songs and devotional songs along the route of the processions.
Giant idols
Two giant idols, which are special attractions of the Ganeshotsav in Hubballi, Hubballi Ka Raja at Dajibanpet and Hubballi Ka Maharaja at Maratha Galli, were installed late in the evening.
Hubballi Ka Maharaja, which measures over 25 ft in height, is made at the huge pandal itself, while Hubballi Ka Raja, which measures over 23 ft, is brought to the venue in a procession amid much fanfare.
The twin cities attract visitors from across the region as Ganesh pandals are erected based on different themes and various religious and historical structures. Skits based on mythological anecdotes are also played during the 11-day festivities that attract people in large numbers.
This time, apart from other themes, the success of Chandrayan III too has inspired the artistes resulting in a few skits on ISRO’s space expedition.
As a precautionary measure, the police have imposed restrictions on the use of high decibel sound systems and barred the mandals from playing loud music at night.
