Hyderabad: Begum Bazar showcases many avatars of Ganesha

Begum Bazar: During the 11-day Ganesh festivities, thousands of pandals are set up across the City. However, the people of Begum Bazar in Old City have penchant for setting up different, unique and innovative themes of Ganesh idols which draw huge crowds during the celebrations.

The city of Hyderabad is known for holding celebrations of various festivals on a grand note. And Ganesh festivities are celebrated with great pomp and fervour after Mumbai and Pune. A mass immersion programme is organised by Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samithi every year in which a large number of people participate.

Apart from the city's famous 40-feet tall Ganesh of Khairatabad and the famous Laddu of Balapur Ganesh, these unconventional idols have their history in the streets of Begum Bazar. In Begum Bazar, Ganesh immersion programme is led by the 'Pahelwan Ganesh'.

For the last four decades, the streets of Begum Bazar continue to pull huge crowds and attract the devotees to have its glimpse with traditional wrestlers. The giant Ganesh idol, which is unique and proudly called as 'Pehalwan Ganesh', appears to be like a wrestler. Each year, 'Pehalwan' Ganesha is keeping all the attention. The muscular 25-feet-tall Bappa is attracting devotees from all over Hyderabad.

Apart from Pehalwan Ganesh, this year it has been observed that several such Bappa idols were installed with a unique innovation. The idol holding a national flag and celebrating the 75th Independence Day, with a theme Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav was installed at Begum Bazar Chatri. In the ongoing pandemic, taking a vaccine remains one of the important aspects.

To create awareness among people a large number of pandal organisers set up the idols creating awareness on Covid-19 vaccine. Ganapati idol wearing a doctor coat giving a vaccine to the person remains a major attraction. "During the 11-day festivities, devotees would be coming and performing pooja and this would be the great initiative for spreading awareness on vaccination," said an organizer at Begum Bazar.

"After a year, I am visiting the Ganesh pandals in Begum Bazar. The stretch has a range of innovative Bappa idols and each year we see a different innovation. It is great to see such unique idols in Begum Bazar this year too," said Kriti Shaw, a devotee at Begum Bazar.

One such idol is set up at Begum Bazar, it is a tribute to the Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra. It is attracting more people, especially the youngsters. The Ganesh can be seen holding javelin and Olympic rings were seen above the head.