PUNE: Women brought Gauri, the deity known as the mother of Lord Ganesh, home with great fervor on Sunday for a three-day celebration. The Gauri and Ganapati visarjan was held on Tuesday.
Women were seen carrying the deity ‘mukuts’to local lakes and water bodies for visarjan, but the numbers were far less than previous years. “Many households have brass or metal mukuts (heads) of the idol so the visarjan is a symbolic gesture to bid the deity goodbye until next year. After immersing it in water, we take it out and store it to use the next year. Some people purchase the same made of PoP or clay every year, so they perform a proper visarjan,” said Vaidehi Suryawanshi, resident of Bibvewadi.
“Gauri puja is a celebration of womanhood in all it’s variations. This year, my husband and children also helped prepare all of Gauri’s favourite dishes such as bhakri, bhaji, sweet dishes and faral and modaks,” said Priyanka Kulkarni from Sadashiv Peth.
“It is believed Gauri comes to her maternal home and devotees pamper her while she is there. Last year, there was no fanfare, but this year all our women relatives come over for the haldi-kumkum which on Monday,” said Rutuja Patil, resident from Gangadham.
Rashmi Bhedekar, from Kothrud, said, “As the only daughter of the family, I am also pampered a lot along with Gauri.We dressed up our idol in my mother’s jewellery and bought new sarees for her. I also invited my colleagues for lunch and darshan.”
