Ganesh Festival – Dhamankar Naka Mitra Mandal way – By Rohan Shetty

“I am Happy and feel Lucky to be born in Bhiwandi (India) ”

We have our own Sarvajanik Ganesh Mitra Mandal named “Dhamankar Naka Mitra Mandal” (D.N.M.M.) ­­– President : Mr. Santsoh M. Shetty.

Every year we build up PROTOTYPE / SET of Pilgrimage places or historical monuments of India , especially temples in India.
A team specialized in such work are given the contracts for building such prototypes.

The main motive behind this is to make the local public aware of such famous places in India and at the same time have a feel of these places , which they are not able to visit for some reasons .

From the year 2010 , we have initiated to support  ”GO GREEN ” by not using P.O.P. (Plaster of Paris) and such harmful chemicals to build up these SETs and Ganesh Idols .

Entire set is made from Bamboo / wooden blocks, ropes and clothes only.

Ganesh Idol is made of pure Mud only and no P.O.P. material is been used.

Crown (Mukut) of Ganesh Idol is made up of Pure Silver.

Following are some pictures to depict the way we celebrate Ganesh Festival every year :

Ganesh Festival Set year 2010 :  Dakshineshwar Temple, Kolkata

History : The Dakshineswar Kali Temple  is a Hindu temple located in Dakshineswar near Kolkata. Situated on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, the presiding deity of the temple is Bhavatarini, an aspect of Kali, meaning, 'She who liberates Her devotees from the ocean of existence.

Goddess Kalika Mata Idol

Ganesh Idol year 2010 :

Ganesh Festival Set year 2011 : Sree Somnath Temple , Gujarat  

History : The Somnath located on the western coast of Gujarat, India, is one of the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines of the God Shiva. Somnath means "The Protector of (the) Moon God". The Somnath Temple is known as "the Shrine Eternal", having been destroyed six times by Muslim conquerors.

Ganesh Idol year 2011 :

Crowd Response : Devotees come to worship every year in almost double the number in previous year…

Above picture taken at 3:45 am  9th day of Ganesh festival , last year

Visarjan rally is divided into 4 sections as follows :

Section 1#  DJ section where-in DJ makes public groove along with his music

Section 2# Nashik DHOL team (from Nashik ) entertaining public doing their stuff

Section 3# This section involves different acts every year . For instance , in the year 2011 , we had Gymnasts from Karnataka showing their skills , year 2010 – clowns entertaining public with funny acts. Below image is of Gymnasts from Karnataka showing their skills

Section 4# we have Ganesh Idol where-in volunteers provide prasadam to devotees

Below image is of Idol been taken to submerge into nearby Varaladevi Lake (Bhiwandi) by respective team.

Successfully participating in Ganesh Festival from last 23 years and still counting….

Now , our mandal is also been called as BHIWANDI CHA RAJA !!! by some of the local public .

Achievements :

  9+ times awarded 1^st prize as Best Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mitra Mandal in Bhiwandi by Bhiwandi Police committee.

In the year 2010 , we were rated among TOP 6 Sarvajanik Ganesh mitra mandal in mumbai according to a survey by Local Newspaper.

In the year 2011 , rated among TOP 6 Sarvajanik Ganesh mitra mandal in mumbai by TIMES UTSAV MOORTI SANMAN CONTEST 2011.

Planned Ganesh Festival Set year 2012 : Jagannath Temple in Puri , Orissa.

History : The Jagannath Temple in Puri is a famous Hindu temple dedicated to Jagannath and located in the coastal town of Puri in the state of Orissa, India. The name Jagannath (Lord of the Universe) is a combination of the Sanskrit words Jagat (Universe) and Nath (Lord of). The temple is an important pilgrimage destination for many Hindu traditions, particularly worshippers of Krishna and Vishnu, and part of the Char Dham pilgrimages that a Hindu is expected to make in one's lifetime.

Work has already begun with a hope that devotees would turn up this year in large number like always and make 24th year a grand success too!!!

GANAPATHI BAPPA MORYA !!!

-Rohan V. Shetty