16 September,2023 06:02 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
File Photo/PTI
As the Ganesh Chaturthi festival is approaching, a Ganesh pandal themed on Ayodhya's Ram Mandir is being constructed in Maharashtra's Pune by the Shreemant Dagdusheth Halwai Sarvajanik Ganpati Trust.
The organisers said that they have been working on the pandal for the past two months and it will be ready in a day or two.
The installation of the idol of Lord Ganesh in the Pandal is going to be done by the chief of RSS, Mohan Bhagwat, an organising committee official said.
The organisers said that they chose the Ram Mandir theme to give people a glimpse of what the temple would look like when it opens in January 2024 in Ayodhya.
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"We have tried to replicate the design of the Ram Mandir, where Lord Ram is going to be seated, along with the ten avatars on the side. We are also building a Ram Setu from where people will enter. There will be fifteen to twenty statues of Lord Hanuman holding a stone in their hands," said an official from the organising committee.
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The official added that every year, around two crore people visit their pandal, but this year they expect around five crore visitors.
"We have invited Uttar Pradesh's Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and he has assured them that he will definitely come," the organising committee official said.
This year the Ganesh Chaturthi festival will begin on September 19 and will continue for ten days until September 29.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis flagged off the Ganpati Special train, named 'Namo Express', to Konkan from Mumbai's Dadar station in view of upcoming the Ganesh Chaturthi.
Fadnavis said that Maharashtra BJP has arranged six special trains and 338 buses for devotees going to the Konkan region for the upcoming Ganpati festival.
"Maharashtra BJP has arranged six special trains and 338 buses for devotees going to the Konkan region for the upcoming Ganpati festival so that passengers don't face any difficulty in reaching their designated place."
"Our Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar and cabinet Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha and all our team are working to make an arrangement like every year we do. This year we are trying to do it on a larger scale," added Fadnavis.
While Central Railway is running 156 Ganpati Special trains in view of the Ganpati festival and the bookings for which are open.
This year the Ganesh Chaturthi festival will begin on September 19 and will continue for ten days until September 29.
The 10-day festival ends when the idol is carried in a public procession with music and group chanting, then immersed in a nearby body of water such as a river or sea, called visarjan on the day of Anant Chaturdashi. (With inputs from ANI)
