Ludhiana News- Ganpati immersion amid acoustics

Ludhiana, September 18, 2013: The Third Ganpati Mahotsav, organised in the sports hall of Green Land Sr. Sec Public School by Sidh Data Sewa Society, came to its final rites with the Tenth Day of Poojan and Visarjan.

The Puja began with Hawan Yagya by Pt. Ajay Vishishth, Pt. Vinod Sharma, Pt. Prahlad Sharma and Pt.Arvind Sharma under the able supervision of Pt. Somnath Vishisth . Various dignified and distinguished personalities including Rajendra Bhandari, Vice Chairman of Planning Commission, Punjab, BJP leader Sunil Modgil, Chairman of Shri Shakti
Mahotsav Committee, Charanjeet Bhargav and Deputy Mayor of Ludhiana, R,D, Sharma came to bid annual adieu to Lord Ganesha. Among them were   Rudhra family including Rajesh Rudhra, Chairman of Chain of Green Land Schools, Usha Rudhra, Shabad Rudhra, Mrs. Vijayata Rudhra and other members of the family.

The procession for Ganpati Visarjan was led amid the tolling sounds of bells and echoes of ‘Ganpati Bappa Morya, Agle Baras Tu Jaldi Aa’. Thousands of Devotees were overwhelmed with devotions when the Ganpati Idol was led to submerge in the water of Sutlej river.
A day before, the learned Pt. Ajay Vishishth asked that we should maintain our devotions to the idols because it is our faith that can make a God of an idol. God means the power who gives and such Gods should be worshipped. He further explained that God can only be worshipped with devotion of one’s heart.

Pt. Ajay Vishishth further said that preaching of God only reach to the blessed. One should always follow one’s religion. Sudama also had been salvaged with the blessings of Lord Shri Krishna. After the Aarti of the previous evening Sh. Rajesh Rudhra extended his gratitude to all the devotees and announced that 101 ft. high idol of Lord Ganesha will be
raised to 120 ft. in the coming year, making it the highest idol of Ganesha in Asia.

Today’s Chief Guest, Vice Chairman of Planning Commission, Punjab, Rajendra Bhandari was welcomed by Rudhra. Bhandari  said teachers are the fate determiners of a nation and requested teachers to guide the students towards truth and honesty. He extended a word of appraisal to the pains taking efforts done by teachers and said that they are doing a remarkable job by taking up the responsibilities of school and home simultaneously. This debt can never be repaid by the society. The need of the hour is to inculcate religious ,
spiritual and moral values along with the textual knowledge among students. This will help in fostering patriotism among them and they will grow up into responsible citizens. He further praised the school and said that celebrating the religious festival is a noble deed. It will be helpful in binding the upcoming generation to their land and culture.

Rudhra said that Ganpati Mahotsav is a festival of integrity and welfare to the society. It was started by Lok Manya Tilak to bring a revolutionary change in religious and social values of Indians. He also was able to preserve our  culture and heritage through this festival.
There upon , Rajesh Rudhra , President of Sidh Data Sewa Society and other members including Shabad Rudhra, Vijay Danav, Parminder Mehta, Ravi Kalra, Chander Mohan, Krishan Kharbanda, Deputy Kapoor, Harjit Kalsi, Tara Chand, Ved Bhandari, Naresh Tangri, Chhote Lal, Dr. Narendra Dhand, Anil Kumar Sachdeva, Prem Kumar Bassi, Sumesh Pujara, Anil Nayyar, and Inderjeet Verma honoured all the dignitaries occluding Rajender Bhandari, Sunil Modgil, Charanjeet Bhargav, R.D. Sharma and other guests by presenting a Ganpati Idol to each.

The Ganpati Mahotsav ended successfully with the submergence of Ganpati idol in Sutlej.

City Air News photo: Mandeep Kumar Verma