Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Sept 17: The city of temples wore a festive look Thursday with hundreds of pandals of Lord Ganesha and Lord Vishwakarma mushrooming in its different nooks.
With thousands of people visiting those pandals to pay their obeisance to both the lords, a solemn atmosphere of divinity was also created in the temple town.
Wearing their festival best, the children lined up in the pandals of both the lords with their elders to seek blessings and also pay their obeisance. Most of the owners of motor garages and machinery shops created a pandal for Lord Viswakarma. Side by side, pandals of Lord Ganesha were also galore.
Ganesh Chaturthi which marks the birth of Lord Ganesh was celebrated with traditional fervour and gaiety all across the state. The idols of Ganesh in different shapes and sizes are worshipped at hundreds of educational institutions, pandals at numerous places and different temples.
Ganesh puja is one of the most important festivals of Orissa.
Like every year this year too it is being celebrated for more than five days in Bhubaneswar where as in Jatni which is famous for Ganesh puja, it is being celebrated for 12 days.
Over 500 small and big puja pandals has come up in the city in various market complex and colonies for Ganesh and Viswakarma puja. Several Ganesh Puja committees have taken pains to build Ganesh images with new and unique ideas.
The oldest club of the city ‘Usha Alok’ in Master Canteen has constructed a beautiful pandal with around `five lakh which attracted thousands of visitors. This year, they have made the pandal on the Nabakalebara theme where they showed the various elements involved with Nabakalebara rituals. The 13 feet idol looked splendid with all those splendid decoration.
The tallest Ganesh idol in the city came up in Sahid Nagar by Winner Association Club which is 30 feet and happened to be a major attraction of visitors. Around 13 idol makers from Midnapur, West Bengal made the idols. Last year it was 35 feet tall and this year, the puja committee has decreased the height. It is the only pandal in the city whose idol is not taken for procession to the ghat for immersion rather fire brigade sprays gallons of water to dissolve the idol.
Like every year the puja pandal of Ganapati Club near Ram Mandir is the most interesting and unique. This year they have come up with a unique design which is being appreciated and loved by everyone. This year the committee members have selected the design of a Kolkata based designers which looks like a sitting camel. “Around `1.50 lakh has been spent on the pandal. All the visitors have appreciated the design of the pandal. Every year we try do something different with the style and design and we are happy that we have finished it on time” Jageswar Warhade, president of the puja committee.
Where the Ganesh idol of Passion Club in the MLA colony is made from 2000 coins of `1, `5 and `10, the Ganapati Club of Bapujee Nagar have made Bahubali Ganesh. Unit 1 Navodya Youth Association have made the replica of Lal Bagh cha Raja.
