GANPATI BAPPA MORYA
WHILE SOME DEVOTEES BID A TEARY FAREWELL TO THE ELEPHANT GOD A DAY AFTER THE CITY WELCOMED HIM WITH FERVOUR AND JOY, MANDALS WENT ALL OUT WITH COLOURFUL DESIGNS AND THEMES TO LURE DEVOTEES
Gold jewellery adorned Ganpati idol GSB Seva Mandal at King's Circle in Sion, one of the richest mandals in the city. The idol is adorned with 1.6 kg gold that the mandal received from three devotees this year along with 59.16 kg gold that the deity wears every year
The idol at the Lalbaug Sarvajanik Utsav Mandal, popularly known as the Ganesh Galli Mandal, is adorned with a 5.6 kg gold necklace worth Rs1.5 crore
Devotees pray to the Ganesha idol at the Shiv Mitra Mandal in Borivli, which tries to capture the essence of Maharashtra
A devotee prays to the Shri Mahaganapati idol at Growel's 101 Mall at Kandivli on Friday. The idol is one of the Ashtavinayaks that have been installed in eight city malls as part of DNA’s Eco-Ganesha initiative
Lights surround the Ganpati idol at Gulmohar Ganeshotsav Mandal Borivli
They pray to papier-mache Ganpati
Five years ago, Derek Jadhav, 21, had presented the idea to create a Ganpati idol from paper, an eco-friendly alternative to the plaster of Paris idols, to Bal Gopal Ganesh Mandal at Vile Parle. Jadhav had also created a three-ft Ganesh idol.
After his death in a train accident, the mandal decided to continue the challenge of creating eco-friendly Ganesh idols in his memory.
This year, Digambar Mayekar, a sculptor, has made a 14-ft Ganesh idol using only paper.
"When I was told to make the idol from paper, I ridiculed the idea. But Jadhav had created a three-feet tall idol and showed us that it was possible. For the last four years, we have been creating idols from tissue papers. To keep his memory alive, we have display his idol at the pandal too," said Mayekar.
This year's 14-ft tall Ganpati idol is made from around 12,000 tissue papers, weighing around 35kg.
First an idol was made from soil and then coated with soap water so that the papers do not stick to the soil. After removing each tissue paper separately, 35 in total, they are joined using aspecial glue and kept together using thin iron rods.
"We began preparing the idol in December. It is the combined effort of all the workers of the mandal. We feel that turning eco-friendly is a necessity," said Vijay Naikuvade, secretary of the mandal.
He added that they have to take precautions for the idol especially when humidity level rises. "We have to adjust the lights so that the humidity level inside the pandal does not rises," he said.
WHILE SOME DEVOTEES BID A TEARY FAREWELL TO THE ELEPHANT GOD A DAY AFTER THE CITY WELCOMED HIM WITH FERVOUR AND JOY, MANDALS WENT ALL OUT WITH COLOURFUL DESIGNS AND THEMES TO LURE DEVOTEES
Gold jewellery adorned Ganpati idol GSB Seva Mandal at King's Circle in Sion, one of the richest mandals in the city. The idol is adorned with 1.6 kg gold that the mandal received from three devotees this year along with 59.16 kg gold that the deity wears every year
The idol at the Lalbaug Sarvajanik Utsav Mandal, popularly known as the Ganesh Galli Mandal, is adorned with a 5.6 kg gold necklace worth Rs1.5 crore
Devotees pray to the Ganesha idol at the Shiv Mitra Mandal in Borivli, which tries to capture the essence of Maharashtra
Five years ago, Derek Jadhav, 21, had presented the idea to create a Ganpati idol from paper, an eco-friendly alternative to the plaster of Paris idols, to Bal Gopal Ganesh Mandal at Vile Parle. Jadhav had also created a three-ft Ganesh idol.
After his death in a train accident, the mandal decided to continue the challenge of creating eco-friendly Ganesh idols in his memory.
This year, Digambar Mayekar, a sculptor, has made a 14-ft Ganesh idol using only paper.
"When I was told to make the idol from paper, I ridiculed the idea. But Jadhav had created a three-feet tall idol and showed us that it was possible. For the last four years, we have been creating idols from tissue papers. To keep his memory alive, we have display his idol at the pandal too," said Mayekar.
This year's 14-ft tall Ganpati idol is made from around 12,000 tissue papers, weighing around 35kg.
First an idol was made from soil and then coated with soap water so that the papers do not stick to the soil. After removing each tissue paper separately, 35 in total, they are joined using aspecial glue and kept together using thin iron rods.
"We began preparing the idol in December. It is the combined effort of all the workers of the mandal. We feel that turning eco-friendly is a necessity," said Vijay Naikuvade, secretary of the mandal.
He added that they have to take precautions for the idol especially when humidity level rises. "We have to adjust the lights so that the humidity level inside the pandal does not rises," he said.
Muslim couple gets Akshardham to Chembur | ||
This year, Raashid Rangrez, the national award winner for best art director, and Shabana Khanam have recreated Delhi's Swaminarayan Akshardham temple at an estimated cost of Rs60 lakh. Last year, they had built a replica of Hampi's Vithal temple. "Last year was the first time we created a Ganesha pandal. The mandal was keen that professional set designers create the pandal," said Rangrez. "We used a lot of material such as wood planks from last year, else the cost would have been much higher." After the theme for this year's pandal was decided, the couple visited Akshardham and spent two days sketching details of the temple complex's sandstone carvings. "Photography is not allowed there but the swami at the temple helped us with DVDs of the design," said Rangrez. The pandal which is 160ft long, 80ft wide and 27ft high encloses a community hall in Tilak Nagar. It took 12,000 sacks, each containing 50 kg of plaster, to create replicas of the sculptures. To protect the structure from rain, a coat of transparent waterproof varnish was applied on the ochre coloured plaster. "Akshardham is spread over several acres and we could not have recreated anything like that since space is constrained, so we took features like Mayur and Bhakti gates and recreated it here," Rangrez added. "Getting workers in Mumbai during the festival season is tough, so we get labourers from places like Banaras," said Shabana. After 40 days of planning and assembling the pandal, the two will return to creating elaborate film sets. "Though I have been designing sets for more than 20 years, this is only the second time where I have created a Ganesh pandal," said Rangrez, who has won the national award for the sets created for the Punjabi film Waris Shah-Ishq Da Waris. The couple have also built a replica of Tirupati's Balaji temple for the Samta Blood Bank Ganeshotsav in Nashik. |
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