The Ganesh immersion procession for 2,460 Ganesh mandals on the busy Laxmi Road took 27 hours and 47 minutes, a full half an hour more than last year.
The Ganesh immersion procession for 2,460 Ganesh mandals on the busy Laxmi Road took 27 hours and 47 minutes, a full half an hour more than last year. The main immersion procession on that road began at 10 am on Sunday from the Tilak statue at Mahatma Phule market and concluded at 1.47 pm on Monday.
As many as 1,39,760 idols were also immersed by households in the 14 ghats in the city on Sunday.
As per tradition, the main immersion procession began after the district guardian minister, Ajit Pawar, and the mayor, Mohansingh Rajpal, performed the traditional aarti.
The first five Manache (most revered) Ganpatis, led by Kasba Ganpati, completed their immersion procession at 7.05pm, taking 9.05 hours. Police said the last Ganesh idol, from the Maharashtra Mandal in Kasewadi, was immersed at 1.47pm.
The main procession on Laxmi Road began to the rhythmic beats of dhol-tasha troupes. Foreign students too joined in. Puneites, both young and old, thronged both sides of the narrow lane leading from Phule market to the City Post Chowk.
Everybody waited patiently to pay obeisance to the city deity and first Manache Ganpati, the Kasba Ganpati, seated majestically in a palanquin. The Kasba Ganpati was supported by the dhol-tasha troupe from the New English School, Ramanbaug.
Similarly, the second Manache Ganpati, the Tambadi Jogeshwari, was led by the troupe from the Hindu Janjagruti Mahila group. The Divya Samaj Abhiyan, which accompanied this Ganpati idol, drew the attention of people to social issues like corruption and female foeticide.
The Guruji Talim Ganpati, the third most revered Ganpati, came in a cloud of gulal as youngsters danced to the tunes of bands from Prabhat, Chetna Sports and the Shiv Garjana dhol-tasha groups.
The non-gulal, Shiva Garjana band dressed in crisp, white kurtas caught the eye with their excellent drumming and military-style discipline. They were by far the most popular band in the day-long immersion procession.
The Tulshibaug Ganesh Mandal, the fourth most revered Ganpati, came with students from Swaroopvardhini, a non-governmental organisation, making pyramid formations and demonstrating sword fighting with sticks.
The Kesariwada Ganpati, the fifth and last of the revered Ganpatis, had already proceeded down Tilak Road with visually impaired children performing the difficult Mallkhamb (gymnastic) routines and drawing loud applause from the crowds. The icing on the cake was provided by the wonderful drumming by Shivmudra and Shri Ram Pathak dhol-tasha groups that accompanied the procession.
However, all the drama was reserved for Sunday midnight, when the police stopped the traditional music to avoid noise pollution. This upset the illuminated mandals, which refused to proceed further. A hold-up of a full 90 minutes ensued.
The Akhil Mandai Mandal, cocking a snook at the sound restrictions, began their procession with their dhol-tasha troupe. This emboldened the mandals that were following and sound and noise was part of everybody’s repertoire once more.
The most anticipated Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati came only at 1.30am to Belbaug Chowk, a full two hours behind schedule. Accompanied by the Shiv Garjana dhol-tasha group, the Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati reached Alka Talkies Chowk at 6.12am.
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