This year, most of the households in Navi Mumbai have kept Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations at it’s humblest form, given the ongoing pandemic
Navi Mumbai: Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in Navi Mumbai households have been humble this year owing to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. As a result, the Ganesh utsav decorations around they city have been simpler and prayers have been humbler than ever before.
Manvi Tomar, who resides in Kharghar, and runs a baking business from home, Crafting@180°, shares, “We celebrate the 5-day Ganesh Chaturthi at home with great pomp but this year we have kept it more of a family affair, given the covid-19 situation.”
“We had a simple decoration and mostly home made prasad, baking delicacies and some sweets bought from the sweet mart. Also, only a few of our select friends visited us for Ganesh darshan,” Tomar adds.
Some families in Navi Mumbai celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi by decorating their permanently placed Ganesh idols for the duration of the enire festivity.
Sanjna Rao, a resident of Kharghar, and teacher by profession, shares “We celebrate Ganesh Chaurthi by placing the Ganesh idol from our temple in a small decorative makhar for five days and shift it back to the temple after the completion of the festivity.”
“It is a very simple and personal family celebration of Ganesh Utsav in our own special way,” Rao adds.
However, for some families in Navi Mumbai, the celebratons of Ganesh Chaturthi were not that different this year.
Jitesh Shelke, a resident of Vindhane in Uran, shares, “We have been having a 10-day Ganesh Utsav celebration every year since the last fifteen years. This year, though the decoration was simple, the fervour and enthusiasm was high as always.”
“Many friends and relatives visited us for Ganesh darshan, prasad and bhog and indulged in prayers and other rituals as usual. However, we did take necessary precautions according to covid-19 norms,” Shelke adds.
In a similar fashion, families in Navi Mumbai have kept the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations simple. Most of the families have been having a minimum number of guests without much of a gathering.
However, there still are some families, where covid-19 norms have gone for a toss. The results of such behaviour will be more evident in the number of cases post Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations.
In short, although Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in Navi Mumbai have been without the usual ceremonial splendour, there has been no decrease in the religious fervour it tends to generate among devotees.
