During this year’s Vinayaka Chaviti festival, a 89-foot clay Ganesh idol to be installed at Lanka Grounds at Gajuwaka in Visakhapatnam. What make the idol more special and attractive is that the pandal organising committee members have roped in renowned sculptor Chinnaswamy Rajendran. He has been designing and building the famous Khairatabad idol in Hyderabad since 1978. The works on the idol is under progress and team of Mr. Rajendran, is working overtime.
K. Ganesh Kumar from SV Entertainments and also organising committee member of the Ganesh pandal at Lanka grounds, said that they have been trying to rope in Mr. Rajendran since the year 2014, but the deal did not happen due to his busy schedule. “However, we are very fortunate to have him on board this year and we expect his hands will weave a magic,“ Mr. Ganesh said speaking to The Hindu.
This is not for the first time, SV Entertainment has set up Ganesh pandal. They have done it for eight years since 2012. Some of the heights of Ganesh idols they have set up so far include 40-foot, 55-foot, 65-foot and 79-foot and this time, they have decided to increase 10 more feet and fixed it at 89-foot.
“Around 60 workers will be working on the idol. About 35 workers will work on sculpting the idol, while 25 men will be on the elevation works. Many of them are being deputed from West Bengal and Odisha apart from the locals. All the workers will be under the supervision of Mr. Chinnaswamy,” said Mr. Ganesh.
Arrangements are being made in such a way that the immersion of the idol will be also on the spot.
Mr. Rajendran visited the site on Monday and discussed the action plan with the organisers. He said that if weather supports, he would strive to complete the idol at least 10 days before the Vinayaka Chaviti festival, so that the clay idol would have sufficient time to dry.
The city has been hosting the tallest Ganesh idols over the last decade. Some of the Ganesh pandals organising committees at Gajuwaka, Sheela Nagar, MVP Colony, Madhavadhara and Murali Nagar are organising the festival with a competitive mindset and enthusiasm.
During the year 2015, Visakhapatnam saw a 111-foot Ganesh idol at Gajuwaka, while in the year 2016, MVP Colony was home to 108-foot Ganesh idol. Similarly, during the year 2017, a 96-foot Ganesh idol was arranged at Sheela Nagar. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Vinayaka Chaviti was celebrated without much fanfare over the last two years. However., this year, the number of committees coming forward to set up pandals is likely to increase.
