Ganpati Bappa Morya
Varkra Tund Mahakay , Surya Koti
Samaprabha
Nirvighna Kurme Devo , Sarva
Karyashu Sarvada
This shloka invokes the blessing from Lord Ganesha
before start of any new project . It prays to the elephant headed God of Art
and Knowledge to drive away all the obstacles (Vighnas)
and bless the requester with success in his work.
At start
of this week every body will become busy in welcoming the Vighnaharta , the God
of 18 Vidya and 64 kala’s the lovable Ganesha into their homes and in buildings
at the Sarvajanik Mandals. Here he will stay with us for the next 10 days from
Chaturthi to Anant Chaturdashi . Bringing along with him happiness and a mood
of festivity and with a promise to ease the stress and burdens of his lakhs and
lakhs of devotees. He is the embodiment of art , culture and peace. Just
looking into the eyes of his Murthy will melt away your sorrow and and bring
around a sense of hope and happiness.
Matunga
being close to the culturally vibrant areas of Lalbaug , Parel and Shivaji Park
and pre dominantly a Maharashtrian enlave , the Ganesh festival is celebrated
in great pomp . This place has close to 10 -15 sarvajanik mandals dating to
back pre independence years with a rich historya and tradition of 50 – 75 years
. Take the example of 2 of the richest
Ganesh Mandals , the GSB Ganesh Mandal at Wadala celebrating 75 years of
incorporation and GSB Gaesh mandal at King Circle celebrating this festival for
last 62 years . Both these are said to be Iccha Purti Ganesha’s , where if you
make a wish with you pure heart the Lord will bless youa and make it come true.
I have personally experienced the same on may occasions over the years. Both
these Mandals have their unique style of celebration. The King Circle GSB
Ganesh Mandal celebrates the Ganesh festival for 5 days on the SNDT grounds on
the RA Kidwai Road with a huge pandal and an equally huge Ganesh Murti. The
Ganesha idol is decorated with real Gold ornaments like the glittering and
bejeweled crown , Gold necklaces , palm and feet covers made of gold and golden
kaddas for hands and feet. The nearly 20ft idol sits on the stage in great
style bestowing all those whom come with his blessings. The area in front of
the idol is demarketed for Gana hom (havan) and another are is designated for
Tula bhar ( a custom of offering coconuts equal to once weight to the Lord
Ganesh).
For all 5
days there is a special Prasad Lunch free to all the devotee who visit the
pandal. Close to 4-5 Lakh devotees take this prasadam over the period of the 5
days. At a time nearly 100 people can eat in one sitting . The food is prepared
the kitchen set up right behind the Mandap and close to 50 -60 cooks prepare
the special menu . Then there are another 50-100 sevadaars at any given time
inside the pandal to help organize this festival and make sure the festival
passes without any untoward incidents. I personally recommend to try the
special lunch atleast once , you will come back again again every year like I
do. The menu is simple mix of GSB traditional items like Udit Methi (sweet and
tangy curry made from coconut spiced with udit and fenugreek seeds) Tendli
upkari ( smashed and fried tendli vegetable) , Sar (Rasam) , Kachi Kela Bajji
(Raw Banana mixed in Chick pea batter and crispily fried) , fresh mango pickle
or mixed vegetable pickle, fried papadam, Steamed rice and Dali Toy (yellow dal)
. For sweet there is the Madgane paysam( sweet made of channa dal and coconut
milk ) flavoured with elaichi and jai phal and soft bundi ladoo. All this is
served on a banana leaf the most eco friendly plate you can use.The sevadars
keep coming with refills and urge you to take second or third helpings .
Sitting there cross legged on the floor makes you content and you may end up
eating more than you can imagine and your routine appetite. The food is simple
but really tasty. Do try it atleast once…
Same is
the case at the Wadala GSB Ganesh Mandal . here the Lord is hosted for 10 days
with equal apolomb . This Ganesh is said to be richest Ganesh Mandal outdoing
even the famous Lalbaugcha Raja the 10 day festival is insured for close to 260
Crores. The jewelry on the Lord Ganesha’s murthi itself is valued at more
than 22 Crores. But this mandal still believes in the old values with
traditional functions like Shloka patthan , traditional dance performance and
late evening bhajjans by local and community groups performing very day. There
is never a rush and the chaos associated while visiting the pandal which is
open close to mid night. You can peaceful stand in the que , reach the lords
feet , soak in the serene atmosphere and
pray at the Lords feet and take his blessings in a calm manner.
The
Sarvajanik Mandal next to our building in Aggarwal Nagar even hosted a mini
film festival. Screening the famous Amitabh Bachan starers like Namak Halal (
with dialogs as funny as “I can talk English I can walk English”) , Shaan (made
famous by the baldy villain Shaakal ,
Coolie ( Sari Duniyaan ka boj hum uthate hain a tribute to the porters of
Mumbai) , Deewar ( With the famous lines “Mere paas bungla hai gadi hai paise
hain , tere pas kya hain and Shashi Kapoor desimating him with a counter “ Mer
Paas Maa hain” )and the epic Sholay with the characters of Surma Bhopali , Angrezo ke zamane ke Jailer , Thakur , Jai
,Veeru and the notorious Gabbar all etched in our minds. We would sit on the
steps on the central garden on news paper spread to protect our clothes and
enjoy the movies of the large white screen and dialogues and song blaring from huge speakers.
During
our childhood we used to roam around visiting the numerous Ganesh Pandals in
the vicinity and enjoying the festival and having a gala time.The tradition is
continued with me and my wife taking our kids Netra & Bhatki and visiting
all these pandal and enjoying the decorations of each mandals.
You have
the Vidyarthyancha Raja (Students Ganesha) at the Ruia Naka with decorations
based on current topics and news. Visited by Marathi television and movie
celebraties . Walking further you arrive at the tallest Ganapati Murti in the
Brijwasi Ganesh Mandal with decorations of water fountains and cutains.The
murthi close to 15 ft with the Ganesh idol in traditional yellow pithambar.
Moving ahead you come to the Matunga Market Ganpati Mandal earlier patronized
by the erstwhile gangster Vardharajan Mudaliar on whose life was made the famous
Tamil Movie “Nayakan” with Vardha bhai role espouced by vetran character actor
Kamal Hasan and directed by talented and award winning director Mani Ratnam .
Till he was alive Vardha bhai used to lavishly celebrate the Ganesh festival
tasking over the entire space in front of the Matunga Railway Station. Spending
heavily on the theme based decorations
and lighting . Though over the years the celebrations have toned down after
passing away of the DON . The madal celebrates the festival with apolomb and
the devotee still throng to take the blessings of Lord Ganesh and the idol set
in traditional south Indian form.
Walk a
little further and you come to the Phulwalon ka Ganpati or the Ganesha of the
flower sellers in Matunga Flower market. The Pandal here is decked with fresh
flowers in vibrant colors from deep chrome to sunshine yellow to deep blues
and rich reds. Using flowers like marigold , jasmine , orchids and roses. For
ten days the flowers are changed every day and the decorations are the talk of
all Matunga.
Next of
the list is the Pramanik Ganapati Mandal decked up in Silver jewelary and
decorations based on puranik katha’s or religious themes. Walking ahead you
land up at the Tejukaya Ganesh Mandal. Here the decorations are theme
based like the hawa mahal from Rajasthan
or the miniature Meenaxi Temple or other of palaces and traditional temples.
The artisans take months to complete the pandal and bring these exotic places
right here in Matunga. This Ganesh Mandal is also famnus for lip smacking and
finger licking food stalls righ out side. You can choose from the spicy tangy
Butter Pav Bhaji to the mouth watering and hot vada pav or wolf down the Delhi chaats of alu tikkis ,
dah wada and golgappas. On public demand they have now started Cheesy pastas
and pizzas and even the paneer and muchroom kebabs are scrumptious.
The scene
outside is like a mela with merry go rounds and giant wheels and toy sellers
selling dolls , guns , toy phones and musical pianos , guitars and hand made
bow and arrows etc. The kids love to shop here and the adults like to hog on
the food. What fun.
With
sleepy eyes, a happy heart and a smile on your face you can then trudge back to
your cozy home well past mid night and plop in your bed with a secured mind
that for the next ten days Lord Ganesha himself has come down on this earth to
bring happiness among his devotees and drive away all the obstacles in their
lives.
Ganpati
Bappa Morya…….
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