Innovative Ganesh idols in Hyderabad cynosure of all eyes

Hyderabad: The Old city ganesh has a different, innovative and unique theme this year ranging from Pahalwan to Sputnik.

After two years of low-key celebrations due to the Covid pandemic, this year's Ganesh festivities have revived the verve.

Hyderabad is known for holding celebrations of various festivals on a grand note. And, Ganesh festivities are celebrated with great pomp and fervour after Mumbai and Pune. A mass immersion programme, a Shoba Yatra taken out by Utsav Samithi each year draws lakhs of devotees. After remaining low-key for more than two years, the drums and wind instruments are all energetic with teen maar and other popular music along with chanting 'Ganpati Bappa Morya' and 'Jai Bolo Ganesh Maharaj ki'.

Hyderabad is famous for different and innovative Ganesh idols. While, the city's famous Khairatabad Bada Ganesh has reached the height of 50-feet with Mahalakshmi Panchmukha Ganapati theme. The Balapur Ganesha is the one of the oldest in the city. It is famous for its Laddu auction which started in 1994. This year, the pandal is a replica of the Arunachalam Temple with 25-feet and these unconventional idols have their history in the streets of Begum Bazar, Goshamahal, Lal Darwaza, Gowlipura, and Osmangunj.

In Begum Bazar, Ganesh immersion programme is led by the 'Pahelwan Ganesh'. For the last four decades, the streets of Begum Bazar continue to pull huge crowds and attract the devotees to have its glimpse with traditional wrestlers. The giant Ganesh idol, which is unique and proudly called as 'Pehalwan Ganesh', appears to be like a wrestler. Each year, 'Pehelwan' Ganesha is keeping all the attention. The muscular 25-feet-tall Bappa is attracting devotees from all over Hyderabad.

Apart from Pahelwan Ganesh, this year it has been observed that several such Bappa idols were installed with a unique innovation. The box cricket Ganesh idol in Hindi Nagar also attracts many devotees. Apart from offbeat pandals, there are many pandals here that are lauded for their simplicity.

In Goshamahal, the theme of the Ganesh was on the blockbuster movie RRR, and the other one on the theme Tirumala Venkateswara Temple. The Dhoolpet area is also well-known for amazing Ganesh pandals with gigantic idols. The area witnesses the traditional way of celebrating the festival.

In Lal Darwaza, Future Foundations Society creates an innovation each year, this year the theme was dedicated to the Farmers of India, with a tagline 'Time to Know Your Farmer'.

In the past, the society took up different themes including Chandrayaan-2 to salute the efforts of ISRO scientists and during the Kerala floods, the idol was made in Kathakali style structure. During Covid, the theme was on selfless service of Covid warriors including doctors, police and sanitation staff. Last year, the theme was to create awareness on vaccines and Ganesh idol were placed on Covishield, Covaxine and Sputnik-V. Apart from these, thousands of Ganesh pandals in various areas are well known for the unique pandals.

All eyes on Balapur Ganesh

Each year the famous 'laddu' of Balapur Ganesh is setting a record of highest bidding ever, and this year may make a record of Rs 20 Lakh. As last year, it fetched a record Rs 18.90 lakh, which was Rs 1.30 lakh more than the previous (2019) year.

The Balapur Ganesh laddu of its exclusive auction is conducted each year in the Balapur village. The 21-kg laddu with 2-kg silver plate started attracting more and more bidders each year. The auction of Laddu was organised under the aegis of the Balapur Ganesh Utsav Samithi, which has been taking up this for the last 28 years. First time the laddu was auctioned for Rs 450 in 1984. People believe that whoever gets the priced laddu would have a great future with Lord Ganesh's blessings. The money is spent on welfare activities mainly in the education sector. Only in the year 2020, the auction was cancelled because of prevailing Covid pandemic restrictions.