KOLKATA: Devotees across Kolkata celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi on Friday amidst the Covid-19 pandemic for second year in a row. Traditional fervour of the festival was on display at Shree Siddhivinayak mandir near Tala Post Office in north Kolkata and Maharashtra Nivas on Hazra Road. Pandals across the city reverberated with the chants of Ganpati Bappa Morya amidst prayers for health, wealth and prosperity.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee paid a visit to Maharashtra Nivas after filing her nomination for the Bhowanipore assembly by-election to offer prayers. The Ganesh Chaturthi organised by Maharashtra Mandal is one of the oldest in Kolkata, celebrated since 1930.
“The chief minister comes here every year to offer prayers,” said Nandita Gadre of Maharashtra Mandal. While most Ganesh Pujas in the city are observed for only three days, the one at Maharashtra Nivas is celebrated for all 10 days.
This year several housing complexes and block committees too started their own Ganesh Puja as Covid-19 safety guidelines prevent people from crowding community Pujas. Keeping the pandemic situation in mind, the committees arranged for online darshan, packed bhog and separate seating arrangements for the elderly.
Ganesh Puja gained prominence in Kolkata in the past decade or so when it became a permanent neighbourhood event with several traders’ associations, clubs and politicians starting their own puja to establish connect with the mass.
In Bangur, an NGO that works with the visually impaired and other specially abled people organised Ganesh Puja for the first time. “This is the first time we have organised the Puja. For the last one-and-a-half-years everybody have been depressed with hardly any opportunities to celebrate and interact with the outer world,” said Debajyoti Roy, secretary of the NGO.
