'Moving' tales from the epics

MiD DAY takes you on a round of the Ganapatis in the lanes and by-lanes of the city as it celebrates its favourite festival

The Ganeshotsav is past the halfway mark, with several thousand household Ganapatis -- most devotees keep the festival a five-day affair at home -- immersed yesterday.

The big mandals, of course, will wait the full 11 days before bidding the city's favourite deity adieu.It is its big and small mandals that make the city such a draw for devotees and tourists during Ganeshotsav, as the decorations at the various sarvajanik (public) Ganapatis are a feast for the eyes, often with sound effects or music to add to the festive spirit.

Yesterday we took you on a tour of the Guruji Talim Mandal Trust and the Jilbya Maruti Mandal. Today we introduce you to two more Ganapati mandals.

Hatti Ganapati Mandal


The Hatti Ganapati Mandal.

The Hatti Ganapati Mandal, founded in 1893, is known for its decorations utilising religious themes related to the Mahabharat and the Ramayan. The installation of the Ganapati idol for this mandal was done by Lokmanya Tilak.

"In 2004 we kept a 30-feet figure of Kumbhakaran and in 2008 we had a 40-feet moving Ravan -- the figure even ate a ladoo with his hand!" said Sham Mankar, president of the mandal.

This year the a few scenes from the Ramayan are part of the tableau. The abduction of Sita by Ravan is one of the scenes. Angad can bee seen taking Ram's message to Ravan, asking him to set Sita free.
There are a total of 14 movable characters from the Ramayan. There's an 18-feet Angad, who moves back and forth.

The entire act where Ravan does not let Angad sit on the aasan in the meeting is played out by the figures, with Angad challenging Ravan to lift his feet.

"The idols and other decorations were brought from Ambarnath, near Mumbai. The pandal decorators came from Kolkata," said Mankar.

A month prior to Ganeshotsav, the entire committee of the mandal goes to Mumbai for the trial of the whole event, to see if it will be a success or not.

"Preparations start six months before the event and we start thinking about the theme for the next year as soon as they are done with the visarjan for the current year," said Mankar.

The mandal has had the same Ganesh idol since 1962. But the accessories change every year. This year, the mandal has added a gold mukut to the idol.About 5 lakh people visit the mandal every year. Children throng the mandal as they enjoy the acts performed by the figures on the stage.

The mandal is also involved in social service, such as blood donation. This year the mandal provided 500 people with swine flu doses.

"Every year we present a different story from the epics of our culture. We select a few scenes and do a play on them, which attracts a lot of crowd. We also do social service activities. All this makes us different from the other mandals," said Mankar.

They have a different story and concept every year. The figures are movable and the colours used for the
decoration are vivid
-- Riddhi Gala, student, Lulla Nagar

It's unique and huge decoration that you find here. Every year they have a new idea and concept. The plays are very entertaining and educative
-- Vikrant Lande, businessman, Bhosari

Shaniwar Peth Mehunpura Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal


The Shaniwar Peth Mehunpura Mandal Ganapati

The Ganesh mandal was founded in 1896. The mandal usually goes for different themes related to the city and national issues. Some of the themes have been global warming, pollution and traffic control.

This year the theme is the Pune Metro, and the mandal is putting up a model and will also have slideshows.
Decorations vary with the theme. In 2008, the theme was Bangladeshis' illegal migration, wherein the display was the entire process of migration, even showing details of illegal migration. They also showed various clips of journalists talking to the migrants. For this, they received the second prize in a competition.

"We do not involve contractors for the event except for making the pandal. All the decorations are done by the mandal members. Everything is made by the artists of the mandal itself," said Girish Sardeshpande, committee member.

They also have commentary along with the shows they do. The commentary is done by Suhash Dharne, a reporter from Sahyadri. The idol they have used is 35 years old and the changes that they made are only regarding the weight of the idol. The popularity of this mandal lies in the fact that it's very old. Initially, they had historical themes, but for 20 years now, they've had themes associated with environment and city-related problems.

"You can say the mandal was started by Lokmanya Tilak since he mentioned the name of the mandal in his article!" said Sardeshpande.

Around 10,000 people visit the mandal over the last five days. Celebrities like Ustad Saifuddin Dagar, Shounak Abhisheki, Ninad Bedekar and Babasaheb Purandare come to visit the mandal in the last three days of the festival. The number of committee members is about 250, of which half are women.

The mandal has a very knowledgeable and
intelligent presentation. They have used advanced technology. The theme is also very unique
--u00a0 Priyanka Gite, IT professional, Shaniwar Peth