Ganesha to take a backseat as mandals prepare for showdown

It’s that time of the year again when the city’s favourite god, Ganpati comes to visit. As with every year, Ganpati mandals have already started their preparations to outdo each other and attract the largest number of devotees.

According to festival watchers, mandals have become money-making enterprises with turnovers running into crores. In the tug-of-war between the mandals, the festival itself takes a backseat as all that matters is being the best.

In a city where the wealth of some Ganpati mandals runs into crores, how do you turn yours into a money spinning attraction during the Ganesh festival?

Some of the tricks used to attract devotees, thereby increasing the donations received is cooking up stories about their idol or hosting raunchy song competitions. And politicians, never the kind to lose an opportunity to promote themselves, will flock to the mandals to further their agenda.

The Marathi film Morya threatens to expose the sordid depths to which some Ganesh festival trusts are willing to go. The movie which released on Friday is an expose on the scam-ridden world of the big ticket Ganesh mandals in the city.

It tells the story of two city Ganesh mandals trying to go one up against the other’s by resorting to crooked means. One character in the film says, “If Lalbaugcha Raja mandal can become famous, why not ours.”

One of the two mandals approaches a pregnant woman staying in a nearby building asking her to claim before a television channel’s camera that she conceived after praying to the deity at the mandal. They collect Rs5 lakh from a politician and pay a jeweller to ‘donate’ a gold necklace to the idol - a ploy to get a mention in the media and more donations. Another mandal collects money from a Muslim travel agent and puts up a banner promoting secularism.

Ganesh Kekane, a resident of Mahalaxmi who saw the film said, “The dirty politics played by the Ganpati mandals to become famous and the commercialisation of the festival is a fact. Politicians have used Ganpati mandals to further their career.”

Avdhoot Gupte, producer and director of the film said the film has concentrated on the irreligious aspects of the festival.

“We wanted to show how the Ganpati festival started by Lokmanya Tilak to unite people has degenerated into a money-making enterprise. Ganpati mandals are only interested in competing with one another to draw the biggest crowds and reap the largest donations. We do not want to hurt religious sentiments here,” said Gupte.

Meanwhile Sudhir Salvi, secretary of Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal dismissed the film as a publicity-seeking enterprise. He said “The film maker has used our mandal’s name because it is famous. We are not part of this mess.”