Devotees celebrated the Ganesh Chavithi festival with religious fervour and gaiety across south coastal Andhra Pradesh on the auspicious Chaturthi Tithi of Shukla Paksha in Bhadrabada month on Monday.
In Nellore, Vikrama Simhapuri Ganesh Utsava Samiti installed a majestic idol of Lord Lambodara in keeping with the tradition popularised by Chatrapati Shivaji and later by Bal Gangadhar Tilak during the Freedom Struggle for a gala celebration at the Shivaji centre. A large number of idols, financed by the samiti, were put in different parts of the city, said Samiti president P. Satya Nageswara Rao. “We are making all arrangements for a grand Shobayatra this time,” added festival committee executive president Vellore Mahesh while briefing newsmen on the festivities, which will go on till September 28 marking ‘Ananda Chaturdasi‘.
The devotees brought attractive Vinayaka idols of various shapes and colours to Ganesh pandals, which sprung up in every street corner in Ongole. Social gatherings were back with a bang after the subdued festivities during the pandemic period. The high prices of the idols, ranging between ₹5,000 and ₹1 lakh, did not deter the devotees.
Artisans, who came from Rajasthan and West Bengal, camped on the city outskirts and burnt the midnight oil to make the idols. They lined up big and small idols on the sides of the Trunk Road near the Old Zilla Parishad office and at the Mangamur Donka and on the arterial Kurnool State highway.
Devotees moved from one Ganesh pandal to another with enthusiasm to pray to the Lord for removal of all obstacles and bless them with health, wealth and prosperity.
Idol-makers at Chagollu near Ulavapadu also did brisk business this time as they got a good number of orders from pandal organisers from different parts of the State well in advance.
In Nellore, social activist Sripathi Srinivasa Rao distributed thousands of clay idols to the youth near the Gandhi Bomma centre to organise the celebrations in a nature-friendly way.
Eruru beach came in handy for sand artist Sanath Kumar in SPSR Nellore district to create a beautiful sand sculpture of the elephant-headed god blessing Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
