BJP leader and MLA Anil Benake has urged Ganesh Mandals in Belagavi to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi for 11 days, as per the Hindu cultural practices.
This announcement came within hours of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai declaring in Bengaluru that the Ganesh festival will be restricted to five days only.
The MLA released a video on his social media handles asking Ganesh Mandals and other Ganesh devotees in the city to celebrate the festival with the true Indian and Hindu spirit.
“The Chief Minister has announced some restrictions for the festivals and said that it can be celebrated only for five days. But the practice in Belagavi is that we celebrate it for 11 days. We will continue the tradition this year too. The only thing is that we need to follow all COVID-19 protocols properly. I want to tell the Ganesh Mandal members and other devotees that they can celebrate the 11-day festival without any problems,’’ he said.
However, the State government stuck to its stand. The government restricted all public celebrations to five days, as per Rule 5, Index 1, of the revised order issued by Principal Secretary, Revenue, Tushar Girinath on Sunday.
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The order mandated that all idols installed at public places need not be taller than four feet and all idols installed at homes would be two feet or smaller. Only 20 persons are allowed in each Ganesh Mandal pandal at a time. There shall be only one public idol installed per ward. They will be immersed in the nearest tank, mobile tank or other facility created for the purpose. All processions, cultural programmes and other events at such installation sites are banned.
