Every lane of Khetwadi celebrates Ganesh Chaturthi with great enthusiasm! When you enter the lane, it seems like any small galli celebrating the festival with bright lights, wires all over, lots of shops and lots of decor; but when you see the size of the Ganpati Idols you will wonder how they got there in the first place!
Khetwadi 13th Lane
Days for Darshan : 11 days
Founded: 1970
If you ask anyone to
name a Rakshasa, one of the names you will definitely get
to hear is Kumbhakaran. Khetwadi 13th Lane had a small play taken
out of our Indian Mythology, where Kumbhakaran was woken from his deep sleep.
The characters of the
play - Kumbhakaran, soldiers, were
played out by mechanical figurines (kind
of like robots) . The Best part was Kumbhakaran’s stomach moving up and
down!
Part 1
Part 2
The Khetwadi 13th
Lane Ganesha sat atop a rustic golden throne at the back of the stage.
His
Throne had SheshNag on one side and a design on the other.
At the bottom of the throne were lions.
At the bottom of the throne were lions.
Khetwadi 12th Lane
Days for Darshan : 11 days
The ceiling of the
mandal was full of paper lanterns. The walls were white with green vines and
red flowers painted on them. Colourful lights were placed near the walls to highlight the wall art.
The Khetwadi 12th
Lane‘s Ganpati sat on a throne outlined with Trishul’s.
His Crown was full of tiny peacock feathers and some peacocks.
The crown had a leaf like outline to it.
His feet were made of
gold. His right palm had the symbol of ‘OM’ written all over it.
His Crown was full of tiny peacock feathers and some peacocks.
The crown had a leaf like outline to it.
Mumbaicha Maharaja, Khetwadi 11th Lane
Days for Darshan : 11 days
Founded: 1962
When we were near this
particular Mandal I could hear the faint sound of a babbling brook. With nothing
but buildings around I was quite puzzled, until I entered it. The Mandal had
waterfalls and water fountains all around, along with roots dropping from the ceiling
and had some potted plants on the ground.
The Khetwadi 11th
Lane - Mumbaicha Maharaja, stood in front of a golden frame decorated with
golden elephants on each side. In one of his hands he held a Trishul and in one a
Parashu.
His unusual skin colour and the entire theme of the mandal was said to depict that Ganesha was found everywhere; and in this particular theme he resided in a cave in a forest. For me it seemed somewhat similar to the Karpaga Vinayagar.
His unusual skin colour and the entire theme of the mandal was said to depict that Ganesha was found everywhere; and in this particular theme he resided in a cave in a forest. For me it seemed somewhat similar to the Karpaga Vinayagar.
Khetwadi Motibaug (Ekvees Mukhi)
Days for Darshan : 11 days
As I entered the
Mandal, everything around me was pitch black. While the crowd was settling, an
introductory video of “Motu Patlu”
began. This video was followed by a play revolving around Motu and Patlu played
by the mechanical figurines, highlighted by a spot light. The play showed how
Ganesh Chaturthi today had become a competition more than a celebration. It spoke about the real meaning behind the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi.
At the end of the
play, the curtains opened to reveal an idol with 21 heads covered by SheshNag.
The idol stood on a turtle that lay on a lotus. He had 42 pairs of hands, out
of which one hand held a gada and one held a flower.
At the bottom, Kauncha
was seen holding a sign with the name of the Ganpati Mandal.
Khetwadi Tulsi Building
Days for Darshan : 11 days
The
specialty of this mandal is that every year they make a Ganpati out of a
completely different material! This year they choose to make a Ganpati out of food
products that we normally use as mouth fresheners e.g.: Aniseed, Cloves, Cadmium.
Around the Ganpati was a flex background with photos of the different mouth
fresheners used.
A recorded message
mentions all the materials used to make the idol and the list goes like this:
Khetwadi Cross Lane
Days for Darshan : 11 days
The idol is made
similar to that of Lalbaugcha Raja. This idol sits on a golden throne at the
end or which are two birds.
This Ganesha has golden feet while a silver Karuncha offering the idol a silver modak
This Ganesha has golden feet while a silver Karuncha offering the idol a silver modak
Cross Lane Building
Days for Darshan : 11 days
This mandal was just near the Khetwadi Cross Lane mandal. As i entered it was pretty dark, with the Ganpati highlighted with colourful lights. One using the flashlight, we saw that the madal had a
small water body with two little ducks in it.
The mandal had two idols.
The mandal had two idols.
The first idols, like the others, was big in
size. The Ganpati sat on a golden throne with a roaring lion on his right and
a lion with a human body on the upper left. Right in front of the idol sat a
white Karuncha offering the idol a big yellow modak.
The lights didn’t let
me get a clear picture, so I am sharing an unedited image retro collage, along a
black and white edit.
As for the second
idol... this one....was unusually small! How small?? Try one inch!
This idol was kept encased
in glass with a polystyrene backdrop on which was painted a sky, some
mountains, water and more.
Inside the case was a tree along with a tiger and an elephant figure. Now if you are wondering where the Ganpati idol was in all of this ... well... the one inch idol was shown sitting on the tip of the trunk of the decorated elephant figure! Not only did the decorated elephant hold the Ganesh idol, but on its back were a peacock and a Mahout under a brolly - talk about detailing!
Inside the case was a tree along with a tiger and an elephant figure. Now if you are wondering where the Ganpati idol was in all of this ... well... the one inch idol was shown sitting on the tip of the trunk of the decorated elephant figure! Not only did the decorated elephant hold the Ganesh idol, but on its back were a peacock and a Mahout under a brolly - talk about detailing!
Pretty interesting right?
Khetwadi 10 Cross Lane
Days for Darshan : 11 days
As we were on our way to the other mandals, I decided to peek into another cross lane. The idol was a lovely pearl white in colour and sat a atop a paath. The jewelry on him was pretty
unique. The idol was surrounded by a scene from the Ramayana.
I guess there was a play involved from the Epic which I missed.
I guess there was a play involved from the Epic which I missed.
Khetwadi 8th Lane
Days for Darshan : 11 days
ICE
AGE was Khetwadi 8th Lane’s theme for this year and it was very
interesting! The entrance was made to look like a huge iceberg with Ice Age
Characters- Sid, Diego, Manny, Crash, Scrat placed right at the top.
When we entered the
Mandal we felt a cold blast of the AC and the entire room was as white as snow.
The passage had a big, white Nandi statue placed right in the centre facing
the Ganpati idol.
The Khetwadi 8th
Lane Ganpati was made to resemble a white woolly mammoth. The angry expression
and eyes can chill your veins if you are alone there at night. The idol Held a
Gada in one hand and has a Trishul crown on his head.
By far one of my most favorite and most scary idols of the year.
The amount of creativity showcased in each and every galli of Khetwadi was brilliant. Right from the lovely skits, to eco friendly Ganpatis, unique
themes, I was amazed at every step!
( Now whats left is part 3!
Will update it on www.facebook.com/nehasclicks
If you missed Part 1 then here is the link :
http://nehasclicks.blogspot.in/2015/09/ganesh-chaturthi-2015-part-13.html
http://nehasclicks.blogspot.in/2015/09/ganesh-chaturthi-2015-part-13.html
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