Hyderabad: This Ganesh Utsav, Hyderabad’s pandals are going beyond the familiar beats of dhols, grand idols and colourful processions. From singing the complete Vande Mataram and hoisting the national flag to bringing the Ganga ghats of Varanasi to Nagole and using street plays to tell cultural stories, organisers are finding new ways to make the festivities more immersive and bring a sense of unity to the celebrations.
One such initiative is the Bhagyanagar Utsav Samiti, which has called on its nearly 1.4 lakh big and small pandals across Hyderabad to sing the complete rendition of Vande Mataram during the festivities. The initiative comes as the national song marks 150 years and Telangana observes Integration Day on Sept 17. The committee expects around 50 lakh devotees to visit during the festivities.
“As the national song turns 150 years old this year and Sept 17 is Telangana Integration Day, we thought this would be an initiative that would integrate people through Ganesh celebrations,” said R Shashidhar, general secretary of the samiti. “The response has been good so far and we are coordinating both through WhatsApp groups and through ground staff,” representatives of the samiti said. We first came across this practice on social media and felt it would be a beautiful addition to our celebrations,” said Sai Mudhiraj, president of Nagole Ganapati pandal. The focus remains on the customary aagman, darshan and rituals, which continue to draw large crowds of devotees,” said Singari Rajkumar, chairperson of the Khairatabad Ganesh Utsav Committee.
Pandal organisers have also been encouraged to hoist the national flag wherever possible. At Khairatabad, the city’s iconic Ganesh celebrations are taking a different approach by staying firmly rooted in tradition. “No major new additions have been planned for the Ganesh Utsav.
“Last year, we had put up a screen to show the aarti, but this year we collectively decided to invite the team to Hyderabad and bring the experience here.