In Satara, Ganpati idols installed home to home amid Morya chants
Devotees in Satara brought home Ganesh idols with great enthusiasm, with the auspicious installation window running till Monday afternoon
With chants of "Ganpati Bappa Morya, Mangalmurti Morya", many Ganesh devotees in Satara brought home their Ganesh idols with great enthusiasm on Sunday for installation. The auspicious time for this home-to-home installation on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi has been given as up to 1:52 pm on Monday.
Several public Ganesh mandals in the city had already brought their idols to the pandal with music and fanfare since last week, so that installation could take place at the appointed time. Because of this, on several streets, even though pandal work is still incomplete, the idols have been kept covered with curtains and cloth.
Since the auspicious window for installing home Ganesh idols runs from Monday morning to quarter to two in the afternoon, the idols will be installed from Monday morning amid aarti and chanting of hymns in homes across the city.
There was also tremendous enthusiasm among devotees for shopping. In Satara city's Moti Chowk, Rajwada and Powai Naka areas, crowds gathered to buy various items needed for Ganesh puja, along with leaves, lotus, kewda and durva favoured by Bappa. Buyers also came to the market for leaves among the 21 patris, including bel, tulsi, aghada, maka, vishnukant and shami.
Demand for flowers always rises during the festival, and several flower sellers in Satara city saw heavy demand for garlands as well as flowers such as kewda, rose and shevanti for puja. These flowers were seen selling in large quantities at prices ranging from two hundred to eight hundred rupees a kilo.
Repeated traffic jams occurred on the city's main roads because of the crowds of people out shopping. Traffic police personnel and volunteers were seen making every effort to keep traffic moving smoothly. But because of the recurring jams, many vehicle drivers were forced to leave the main road and take smaller lanes and narrow paths.
As every year, this year too the atmosphere of Ganeshotsav is filled with joy and enthusiasm, lending a distinctly festive mood to Satara's historic Shahu Nagari.
