Guardian Minister of Pune district Chandrakant Patil honored the trustees of Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Sarvajanik Ganpati Trust and Suvarnayug Tarun Mandal who started the joined the Visarjan procession of Pune at 4pm this year.
Patil presented the idol of Vitthala and honored all the trustees, office bearers, and workers directly in the Ganapati temple with shawls and shrifal.
Trust President Manik Chavan, Vice President Dr Ramchandra Paranjpe, Vice President Sunil Rasane, General Secretary Hemant Rasane, Treasurer Mahesh Suryavanshi, Joint Secretary Amol Kedari, along with office bearers and activists of Suvarnayug Tarun Mandal, were present. Chandrakant Patil performed deity's aarti on this occasion.
Dagdusheth joined the procession at 4 this year
In a departure from its long-standing tradition, the Dagdusheth Halwai Ganapati of Pune participated in the immersion procession on Lakshmi Road at the early hour of 4pm this year. This change comes in response to the growing delays in the departure of the procession in recent years, causing inconvenience to devotees who eagerly await the revered deity's darshan.
Historically, the iconic Dagdusheth Ganapati has been a central attraction in Pune's Ganesh Visarjan procession, which takes place at night. For several decades, the grand immersion procession of the Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati has unfolded at night, following the route made available by the police department on Lakshmi Road. However, the procession's timing has faced increasing delays each year, impacting the overall experience for both devotees and procession participants.
Chandrakant Patil praised the trustees for their decision to start the procession early and commended their resolve in the face of various pressures. He expressed gratitude for their commitment to ending the procession on time.
Other mandals will follow suit: Patil
"This proactive approach by the Dagdusheth Ganapati Mandal set a positive example for other mandals, and I hope that they will follow suit in concluding Ganesha processions in Pune before sunrise in the coming years," said Patil adding the importance of timely immersion. He also said that the period from 10 am to 6 am next day is still enough for the procession.
This year, the immersion of the Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati idol concluded in record time at 8:50pm on Thursday, which was 14 hours and 30 minutes ahead of the timing from the previous year. The office bearers of Shreemant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganesh Mandal had announced this schedule in advance. The procession commenced around 4pm this year, in contrast to the previous year when it had started at 7:20am on the day following Anant Chaturdashi and was immersed at 11:20am on the same day.
This year, the Ganpati Visarjan procession concluded around 3pm on Friday. Despite the police's assurance of completing the immersion procession earlier this year, it took 28 hours and 40 minutes, marking the second-longest duration in the last seven years. Last year, the procession took the longest, lasting 31 hours.
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