Pune, Sep 9 (PTI) Chants of “Ganapati Bappa Morya” are set to reverberate in the Kashmir Valley during the Ganesh festival beginning next week as replicas of idols of three “manache” or revered Ganesh mandals in Pune city are making their way to Jammu and Kashmir.
Despite security threats and alleged warnings issued by militant outfits, local organisers are expanding public Ganeshotsav celebrations across four to five Kashmir districts this year.
This is the fifth consecutive year that the Ganesh festival is being celebrated in Jammu and Kashmir with the idols being provided through an initiative of the Shrimant Bhausaheb Rangari Ganapati Trust.
Replicas of the idols of the top three ‘manache’ Ganesh in Pune city — Shri Kasba Ganapati, Shri Tambdi Jogeshwari, and Guruji Talim Ganapati — were handed over to members of Ganesh mandals from Jammu and Kashmir at a ceremony held at the Shrimant Bhausaheb Rangari Ganapati Trust temple here. The idols will then be taken to Kashmir.
Sandeep Kaul, a member of a Ganesh mandal from Kashmir, said, “It is a great feeling to come here and take the idols to the valley and celebrate the festival. We generally celebrate Ganesh festival for five days. In central and southern Kashmir, the festival will be celebrated for five days while in downtown Srinagar, the celebration will go on for seven days.” The idols were formally worshipped before being handed over to the representatives of the Ganesh mandals from the Valley.
Apart from Kaul, other representatives of the Jammu and Kashmir Ganesh mandals, including Mohit Bhan, Rishabh Chaku, Shishant Chaku, Sandeep Raina, Sanjeev Raina and Hitesh Raina, were also present to receive the idols.
Punit Balan, Trustee at the Shrimant Bhausaheb Rangari Ganapati Trust, said public Ganeshotsav has been planned in four to five districts of Kashmir this year, and claimed that organisers had received threats from militants for celebrating the festival.
“Despite the threats and without worrying about their own lives, the enthusiasm of the organisers to celebrate Ganeshotsav is certainly commendable. Their courage deserves to be appreciated,” he said.
The public celebration of Ganeshotsav at Lal Chowk in Kashmir, which had remained suspended for 34 years, resumed in 2022. The festival has subsequently been celebrated at various places in the Kashmir Valley, according the temple trust.
The initiative aims to further expand the celebration of the festival in the region this year, the organisers said.
Representatives of the Kasba Ganapati, Tambdi Jogeshwari, Guruji Talim, Tulshibaug and Akhil Mandai Ganapati mandals, along with senior police officials, were present at the ceremony. PTI SPK NP
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