For those who have lived in Bengaluru for a long time, especially in the southern parts of the city, the Ganesha Utsava, organised by the Sri Vidyaranya Yuvaka Sangha, is almost synonymous with Ganesha Chaturthi itself.
One of the city’s oldest public Ganesha events, the Bengaluru Ganesh Utsava (BGU), as it is known today, has been held in multiple locations – from a humble cycle shop on D.V.G. Road to some of the biggest venues in the city like the National College grounds.
This year, the utsava has been organised in three different locations – Orion Mall in Rajajinagar, Shankaraa Foundation in Doddakallasandra, and Shankar Mutt in Shankarapuram. It began on September 3 and will continue till September 29.
According to the history provided by the organisers, the first Ganesha Utsava was inaugurated on September 2, 1962, at Mallikarjuna Temple Lane on D.V.G. Road. With singers like P. Kalinga Rao, S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, and P.B. Srinivas performing at the festival, the popularity of the festival grew, leading to a change in the venue to the Mallikarjuna Temple premises in 1976, to avoid traffic jams on D.V.G. Road.
Further, as new leadership emerged within the sangha, the popularity of the events organised continued to grow, bringing in more audience members and the venue was shifted to A.P.S. College grounds in N.R. Colony.
In 2008, the festival was rebranded as the Bengaluru Ganesh Utsava. In 2012, as the BGU completed 50 years, popular names and stalwarts from across the country, including Kareena Kapoor Khan, Govinda, Ilaiyaraaja, and K.J. Yesudas among others, performed at the festival. To accommodate bigger crowds, the utsava also started organising some performances at the National College grounds.
Following a petition by the Shankarapuram Residents’ Welfare Association, the High Court in 2019 ordered that the BBMP should give permission for the event to be held in National College Grounds only for five days instead of 11 (the usual duration of the utsava), as the norms dictate that the grounds should be used for non-sporting activities for only five days in a month.
While the sangha initially adhered to the five-day rule and conducted their events elsewhere for the rest of the days, this year, they have decided not to utilise the National College Grounds.
“This year, a lot of construction work is going on there and it will anyway not be available for 11 days. Hence, we have decided to organise it at three different venues catering to different age groups,” said one of the organisers.
They added, “Our main objective is to celebrate the utsava all over Bengaluru and spread our culture across the city. From last year, we have also been organising pallakki (palanquin) utsavas in different areas to promote our culture. This year, as we are celebrating our 61st year, we have decided to only have Bhakti Geetha renditions at our venue at Shankar Mutt (where the idol will be placed) instead of the usual pop culture entertainment.”
With all the pomp surrounding the BGU now, those who have witnessed its growth from the beginning say they miss its charm from the initial years.
“I used to attend the musical performances on D.V.G Road in the 1960s. There was not a year I missed the festival until it was shifted to National College Grounds. Somewhere along the lane, the festival became more about entertainment and other commercial activities like food courts and advertising than what it set out to be,” reminisced N. Murthy, a senior citizen from Basavanagudi.
