The city of Nawabs, is one of the best places to catch Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations, in India. Though Maharashtra might be more popular in celebrating Ganesh Festival Hyderabad definitely doesn’t lack behind in the scale of its Ganesh Utsav festivities.
The Ganesh Pandals in Hyderabad are some of the largest in the entire country, there are more than a lakh Pandals this year, where the festival is celebrated with lot of pomp and grandeur. Few of the populr Pandals in the city are :
Khairatabad
Khairatabad, known for its massive Pandals, is not backing down this year. One of the largest Ganesh idols in the world will setup at Khairtabad, qt 57 feet. Ganesha idol this year as it will complete 62 years since it is started and named as “Sri Sakthi Peeta Shiva Nagendra Maha Ganapathi” will get the Sheshnaag, the 14-headed snake god, in its backdrop. Last year 2015 Khairtabad Ganesha idol was 59 feet and laddu was 6000 Kgs,but this year the Laddu will be made of PoP.
Balapur Ganesha:
The renowned Balapur Ganesh will have a distinctive feature during Ganesh festivities. This year, accompanying the 22-foot Ganesh idol, there will be a 21 ft idol of Lord Venkateswara.
Balapur Ganesha is know for its Laddu auction since 1994, Kolan Mohan Reddy won the first auction for Rs 450, their after its keep on increasing year on year in 2015 Balapur Laddu has crossed seven figure mark and Last year, Skylab Reddy of Keesara had successfully bought laddu at whopping Rs 14.65 lakh.
The Visarjan of the Ganesha idols in the city will start only after the famous “Laddu auction” of the “Balapur Laddu”is completed.
Gowlipura Ganesh Pandal
In Old City of Hyderabad, Gowlipura Ganesh Pandal is one of the oldest and very popular ganesh Pandal. They always install with the unique and creative Ganesha idols, last year they had installed the Ganesh idol similar to the Padmanabhaswamy of Tiruvananthapuram.
Every day morethan 50,000 devotees visit the Pandal. It is one of the symbol of the communal harmony of the old city.
Durgam Cheruvu (Hitech City):
Though one of the recent Pandals in the city, it has gained popularity for being the eco friendly Idol. Last year, the committee had installed a of 72 feet clay Ganesha idol. It is being promoted as alternative to ever popular Khairatabad Idol, which is made of Plaster of Paris. This is being encouraged since few years to promote ecofriendly festival in the city. This year there is a drastic change in the peoples attitude and accepted cay ganapathis, it is evident when we see clay Ganapathi idols in many house-holds.
Durgam Cheruvu is a natural Pond in midst of Cyberabad. The clay Idol of Ganehsa, which is developed and Placed on the banks of the lake, will be immersed in the same lake after the Ganesh Navaratri.
The other popular Pandals in the city are, Monda Market, General bazaar, Chaitanyapuri, Kamalanagar, New Nagole.
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