Visakhapatnam, September 9, 2013: Markets, flower-vendors, organisations and every community in the city seem to be occupied preparing for the Ganesh Chaturthi in a big way.

For Maharashtrians the occasion brings all the more cheer as family members and friends meet to rejoice at home or gather at a common place. Some of the households celebrate the festivities for three days while others follow the custom of celebrating for 10 days. Performing pooja and offering modaks form part of the celebrations.

“The festivities bring us closer. Schools and colleges remain closed for almost 10 days in Mumbai where life-size idols of Ganesh will be taken out in procession in every nook and corner. Having settled in the city, it is an occasion for us to meet our friends and relatives and make merry,” Anjali Saple, a Mahrashtrian said.

Every person in the family settles down to help complete the preparation of modaks. As one moulds the cups of the modak using rice flour or maida, the next person fills it up with the stuffing made of jaggery and grated coconut before it is passed on to the other one who secures the modaks delicately and passes it on to the final person of the family who awaits to either steam on trays or deep fry them in bubbling oil, Uday Shirname and Bani, a Maharashtrian couple, said.

To please the immense appetite of Lord Ganesh, women of the community prepare a range of dishes that includes ‘patoli’, ‘varan’, ‘modaks’, ‘amti-bhaat’, ‘puran-poli’ and a host of other sweetmeats. “We make sure that everything we prepare on Ganesh Chaturthi will be 21 in number as it is the favourite digit of Lord Ganesh,” Sudhir Sankar Anand, a 77-year-old Maharashtrian, who has been living in the city since 1972. “We get the idol of Ganesh home; decorate the deity with all types of flowers, stalks, fruits and leaves. Depending on the custom and tradition, the day’s pooja followed by arti will continue for 1-10 days. Later, the festivities conclude with the immersion of the idol where I recommend everyone to use eco-friendly ones,” he said.

Some of the Maharashtrians visit Maharashtra Mandal to celebrate the festival with regional and cultural treat.

Source: The Hindu, September 9, 2013