11-day festivities begin in Hubballi-Dharwad

With hundreds of Ganesh Mandals spread across the twin cities installing idols of various forms and sizes at specially erected customised pandals, the 11-day festivities of public celebrations of Ganesha Chaturthi began in Hubballi-Dharwad on Wednesday.

While the festivities last 11 days in Hubballi, the celebrations conclude on the ninth day in Dharwad. A series of programmes and cultural events are held as part of the celebrations.

As it has been seen usually, members of mandals reached the pandals in the afternoon after installing idols at their homes first. On Wednesday afternoon, the twin cities witnessed a series of processions that originated from the idol-makers workshop and concluded at the pandals.

Only those pandals sheltering giant idols of the Elephant God like the one in Maratha Galli in Hubballi did not take out a procession. However, the Hubballi Ka Raja, another giant idol which reached Hubballi from Bengaluru, was taken out in a procession before installation past midnight. Both the idols are over 20 ft in height.

As the mandals are allowed to use DJ sound systems till 10 p.m., a majority of the vehicles carrying the idols had music systems mounted on them, while some had invited folk troupes to make the processions colourful and vibrant.

Revellers danced to their heart’s content till the processions concluded with the installation of the idols.

Idgah Maidan

Meanwhile, amid much fanfare, an idol was installed at the Idgah Maidan adjacent to Kittur Chennamma Circle in Hubballi.

The practice began in 2022 after the Hubballi Dharwad Municipal Corporation permitted installation of idols and the High Court upheld the corporation’s authority to permit it.

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, BJP MP Jagadish Shettar, legislators Mahesh Tenginakai and others visited the pandal later in the day.

Attraction

Thousands from across the district and neighbouring districts visit the pandals in the twin cities during the 11-day festivities. The organisers invest more to erect unique types of pandals to attract crowd. They also play skits based on mythology.

As these pandals see huge rush, of late, the mandals have begun serving various dishes as prasadam to devotees who go around the city from one pandal to another.

Meanwhile, the police have made elaborate security arrangements, diverted traffic on certain roads and posted police personnel near the pandals to manage crowd and keep vigil over anti-social elements.