Arrangements made for grand celebration of Ganesh Puja

Vizianagaram: The public of both urban and rural areas are getting ready and making huge arrangements for Ganesh Pooja as they got an opportunity to celebrate it grandly with the Covid restrictions being lifted completely after a gap of two years.

Actually, Ganesh pooja is very popular and huge pandals and arrangements are very common all over the State every year. But due to the Covid pandemic, the celebrations were only limited during the last two years.

Even the government also imposed several rules and regulations in the past two years to minimise the gathering of public to control the spread of Covid.

But this year with the normalcy being restored, people are ready to celebrate the festival in a grand manner. The idol makers are also happy as they have an opportunity to make good business by selling a large number of idols. S Chinna Rao, an artist, who is into idol making said, "We faced losses in the past two years as the public didn't purchase the idols but this year we are very much happy as there will not be a single idol going unsold. Customers have placed orders in advance for the idols." The idol makers point out that the prices of raw materials like paints, Plaster of Paris and even labour charges have gone up, but they derive satisfaction from the fact that they have handful of orders.

However, K Sridevi, a resident of Vedik enclave in Thotapalem, expressed concern over the rise in prices of Ganesh idols. Despite the hike in prices, they will celebrate the festival in the apartment complex as they have missed the opportunity during the last two years.