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Centenary Ganesh Festival (contd...)
One of the most memorable programmes of the festival
was Pt. Hridyanath Mangeshkar's 'Bhavasargam' which took place
on Tuesday, September 8.
Mangeshkar spoke of his experience in the field of music and of the 'cheeja'
from classical music on which he has based some of his songs. Mangeshkar
was well accompanied by Sonali Rathod. The popularity of Mangeshkar can
be gauged from the fact that music lovers did not move from their seats
between 10.30pm and 3.30 am next day.
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On Wednesday, September 9, Annakot was held.
This is a competition in which local residents prepare interesting
dishes from suggested ingredients. These are judged by a judge invited
specially for the occasion. A one-man collection of Ganesh idols
was also held at the venue at the same time. |
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Tuesday, September 10, The grand final of a festival, which was full of high quality, programme. All the active workers of the festival were visibly upset. The expressions on their face said that they did not want the festival to get over so soon. With heavy hearts they did adieu to their dear Ganesh. Celebrities like L. K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sachin Tendulkar, then BMC commissioner Sharad Kale visited the festival and had a darshan of the Ganesh idol. Devotees from Girgaum and suburbs queued up to take his darshan. |
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The Sanstha workers did a wonderful job of maintaining
discipline among the devotees during the day and the audiences during
nights. That's why crowd-pulling programmes like the Kalyanji Anandji
and Pt. Hridayanath Mangeshker could be managed.
Religious programmes are an integral part of our festival. In the centenary year apart from keertans, pravachan, Mantrajagar and Sahastravartan, there was a bhajan programme everyday. Also two Yagnas-Ganeshyag and Brahmanspatisukta were held. |
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What needs to be mentioned about the festival is
the mandap and decoration. Art direction Manohar Achrekar had freated
a mahal from Peshwa era. A metal foil work of Ganesh idol, craved
by young artist Suresh Ghewde was also attracting attention. Pt.
Hridayanath Mangeshkar complimented it in one word 'Khandani'. Vrunda Juwale |
