Takara Basti gets set for grand Ganesh fest

Secunderabad: ‘Rakth Beej Vadh’ will be the theme of this year’s Ganeshotsav in the famous Ganesh Pandal in Secunderabad, the Ashok Yuvajana Sangam at Takara Basti. The pandal organisers are busy giving final touches to the elevation and interior decoration to ensure everything is in place by Friday, on the day of Ganesh Chaturthy.

More than three-and-a-half decades old pandal in Secunderabad has earned a name for itself as devotees eagerly wait to see what would be special this time. The Ashok Yuvajana Sangam pandal at Takara Basti is being organised by Excise Minister T Padma Rao Goud.

The association takes the devotees through some of the interesting topics from the mythological epics like Ramayan and Mahabharat. The incidents are shown with the help of moving objects/statues and with special sound and light effects. The shows are of the duration of six to seven minutes. The organisers in the past had used themes like Narsimha avatar, Kumbakarna, Bakasur Vadh etc.

The popularity of the pandal can be gauged by the number of devotees coming to see the special themes from mythological epics including Ramayana and Mahabharata. According to the organisers, the preparation for the festival starts from the Janmashtami day when pooja is performed and necessary arrangements are made for the show as well as the pandal. Electronic arrangements are managed by specialists from Ambernath in Mumbai and decoration is undertaken by Kolkata decorators, according to the organisers.

Minister Padma Rao said he showed keen interest in the eleven-day festival. “I have been celebrating this festival for decades. Our family oversees the festival arrangements and Rs 20 lakh goes from our house every year for the festival,” said Padma Rao. The Minister has made it a routine to visit the pandal every night and ensure everything is in place and asks to makes sure no inconvenience is caused to the devotees.

This year’s theme will be ‘Rakth Beej Vadh’, which focuses on Goddess Durga’s battle with Asura Rakth Beej. As per mythology, Rakth Beej was blessed that if someone attacked him, the drops of his blood falling on the ground would create innumerable Rakth Beejas. Goddess Durga takes avatar of Maa Kali and beheads Rakthbeej and ensures blood does not fall on ground and falls in the bowl thereby finishing the devil. The front elevation is modeled like the ‘gopuram’ of Srisailam temple.

One of the organisers G Dharam Raj Chaudhary said the pandal attracted huge rush and during the weekends and holidays thousands of devotees thronged to see the epic tales apart from taking darshan of Lord Ganesh. The pandal is kept open till 2 am every day and on holidays, the shows start early to accommodate more devotees. During the 11-day festival, prasadam is prepared in quintals.

In the beginning, one quintal prasadam is distributed and by the end, it increases to two to four quintals, he added. “People come here with eagerness thinking what would be the theme this time and we have been living up to their expectations under the guidance of the Minister,” said Dharam Raj. Organising the festival for 10 days is one thing and procession on the final day is more attractive, he added.

By K Chandrashekar