Excited Mumbaikars registered and spent all day visiting the Ashtavinayaks at eight city malls.
Excited Mumbaikars registered and spent all day visiting the Ashtavinayaks at eight city malls. In Friday, around four buses took 50 devotees each for the DNA Ashtavinayak Yatra. While some skipped work for the yatra, others made it a family outing.
Sixty-seven-year-old Kumar Ahuja was amongst them who had planned an Ashtavinayak pilgrimage with his four friends during the Ganesha festival but could not make it. They made it up by visiting the DNA Ashtavinayak.
“Four years ago, we tried to go on the pilgrimage, but the plans did not materialise due to lack of comfortable and cheap travel arrangement. Now we are all,” he said.
“The Ashtavinayak yatra was something I wanted to visit for a long time but could not due to time constraints,” said Anita Kambli, 38. The homemaker had come all the way from Ulhasnagar to R Mall in Thane where the Shri Chintamani of Theur was put for darshan. She tagged her aunt along with her. “The idols are done up really well. I tried making best of my fast by performing the first aarti here,” she added.
On the trip, readers were allowed to participate in the puja and perform aartis. They were also provided lunch.
The routes were planned such that the devotees do not get stuck in traffic jams.
“On the five days that we will be taking them across the city, the routes are planned in such a way that the western and central traffic do not clash. So people on the first day are taken to five Ganpatis on the central side and the other day for three on the western and city side,” said Gautam Dalal, head of DNA marketing.
While the Ashtavinayak theme was the biggest draw, many complimented DNA for taking up the eco-Ganesha initiative.
Thane resident Mahesh Shirodkar, 47, said: “Even we have started getting eco-friendly Ganpati idol at home. Such themes should be encouraged.”
“To ensure that we have gone a step ahead in our eco-drive, we have also kept pledge boards so that people take a step forward in eco-initiatives. Already around 25,000 people have signed up for the same. Since people like to gravitate where mass is following, we thought of having sign boards too,” said Dalal.
While some acknowledged the initiative, others even offered advice to DNA for next year’s events.
“It would be nice if they can get prominent Ganpatis of Mumbai like Lalbaugcha Raja, Bangalore’s Natya Ganpati and some prominent Ganeshas of Pune because it is difficult for us to visit these places,” suggested Nirmala Shetty, 45. An assistant manager at an insurance company, Shetty had skipped work to be part of the yatra.
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