by Deepika Notani
Festival season is on its way. Festivals are larger than life celebrations of various things. They occur at regular intervals and helping in breaking the monotony of life. Furthermore, they give us a chance to celebrate the little and big things in life. Festivals are the carriers of peace and joy in the communities.
Every nation of the world has certain religious and cultural festivals. However, India is one of the largest countries to celebrate numerous festivals. As India is a very cultural and diverse country, so are the festivals. They divide into three general categories of national, religious and seasonal. As we can divide them into three categories, we see how they differ from each other.
In general, national festivals are celebrated in honour of reputable people and events. The religious ones follow legends of faiths and their beliefs. The seasonal ones are celebrated with each season that we experience and how it varies from region to region. All the citizens of the country celebrate them irrespective of the religion, caste, creed, and sex. Everyone celebrates them with great patriotism. These festivals are gazetted holidays all over the country and are enjoyed with great enthusiasm.
But this time India won’t be able to celebrate these festivals with enthusiasm due to the pandemic of coronavirus. The biggest festival of Maharashtra is just in few months i.e Ganesh Chaturthi also known as Vinayak Chaturthi. This festival is celebrated with full joy and excitement. It is marked with the installation of Ganesha clay idols privately in homes, or publicly on elaborate pandals. It is observed throughout India, especially in the states such as Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh
Earlier, Mumbai’s Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal had decided to celebrate Ganeshotsav simply. The Lord Ganesha idol will be 4 feet tall and will be immersed in an artificial pond. The decision to limit the height of the idol was taken due to Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s appeal to Mandal for not having a huge idol. But now they have decided not to hold any festivals this year in the view of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. They will not establish Lord Ganapati’s idol and will do social work for those 11 days of festivities. “A blood donation camp, plasma donation camp will be set up at the same place. Also, they will honour the families of martyrs who have sacrificed their lives at the LoC or LAC borders. This is the first time in the history of Lalbaughcha Raja that Ganpati Idol will not be established,” the officials said.
However, the celebrations this time are likely to be subdued as Maharashtra is one of the worst virus-affected states by COVID-19. The state has reported 1,74,761 coronavirus cases so far, as per the state Health Department on Tuesday.
Image Credits:- Tour My India
