Maharashtra celebrates many festivals throughout the year, but a few are awaited with the anticipation that surrounds the arrival of Lord Ganesha. With Ganesh Chaturthi just around the corner, Nagpur is beginning to soak in its festive colours. Opulent pandals are taking shape across the city and turning familiar neighbourhoods into worlds of their own. This year, Tatya Tope Nagar Nagrik Mandal Ganesh Utsav Samiti’s pandal at Tatya Tope Nagar ground, behind Ganesh Mandir, is transporting devotees to the world of Krishna Leela. The pandal recreates the Govardhan Parvat episode, in which Lord Krishna lifts the mountain on his little finger to shelter the people and animals of Vrindavan from the torrential storm unleashed by an angered Lord Indra.

 

From outside, towards the top of the pandal, a large depiction of Lord Krishna can be seen holding up the Govardhan Parvat on his little finger, while villagers take refuge underneath. Shaunak Jahagirdar, a mandal member, explained that the mandal is celebrating its 52nd year, and have taken on a ‘Parvat’ theme since the last year, and received a state-level prize for the same. Last year’s theme was the holy Kailash Parvat, and this year, it is the Govardhan Parvat. Another major attraction is a cave running through the pandal, beginning at one end and depicting episodes from Krishna Leela, including His birth, childhood, ‘makhan chori’, and ‘Kaliya Mardan’ followed by the idol of Lord Ganesha. After this, the tableaus continue with ‘Kans vadh’, ‘Sudama Bheint’, ‘Ras-leela’ at Dwarka, and the Mahabharata before emerging at the other end.

 

The pandal has been designed by Narendra Khawale, who also designed last year kailash parvat themed pandal. Khawale has been designing pandals for nearly 40 years and has previously created various themed installations in the city, including one based on the Amarnath temple. At present, work has been going on at the pandal for over a month and a half, with roughly fifteen workers, and is expected to be completed within the next week.