(Image source from: newindianexpress.com)
With everything in the world functioning virtually due to the pandemic, Ganpati is also going online to give darshan to his devotees throughout the country through Zoom and Facebook.
Ganesh Chaturthi is scheduled for tomorrow, August 22, and the whole country is currently under preparations amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The auspicious festival is an eve for celebration to people every year however, this year the celebrations would be limited to households.
The pandals in the country would also be set up in limited numbers and high precautions are set to be taken in the pandals to prevent the spread of COVID-19. However, some states and Union Territories like Delhi have completely banned setting up pandals this year.
The Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations have been cut down from 10 to 1 and a half days at most places due to the coronavirus being prevalent everywhere.
Every year during August devotees bring idols of Ganesh to their homes and pandals, perform festivities for 10 days and then immerse the idol in a nearby river.
However, this year, they are busy creating social media links, arranging virtual darshans, and setting up safety protocols at pandals for the devotees who would visit their adored God.
Marathi Mitra Mandal, Alaknanda, which are some of the oldest mandals in the NCR region are ready to set up the online darshans and hold online aarti’s through FB live.
Sarvajanik Utsav Samiti, a body of prominent Marathis residing in Delhi celebrates the festival every year with performances, spiritual songs, and a lot of dance and drama in association with Delhi tourism. For the first time in 25 years, the committee will bring Ganesh idol to one of the member’s house for performing puja and visitors are not allowed.
The executive chairman of the Samiti said that they would hold the aarti’s in the evenings on the Zoom platform for two days which will be proceeded by immersion of the idol.
Gurgaon based Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samiti will hold its 28th Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations for a week online as this year is also the 100th anniversary of Lokmanya Tilak.
There will be no physical darshan and everything including aarti and darshan will be set up online by this Samiti. They will not even reveal the place of their idol sthapana.
The committee is also setting up cultural programs where artists shall be allowed tho record their performances or will be able to stream their performance online.
In Maharashtra too the celebrations have been restricted and the idol size has been decreased and the number of visitors to the pandals is cut by half with sanitization and temperature checks in place.
No pandal or committee in the country would hold Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations this year for more than 5 days.
By Gayatri Yellayi
