Ganesh Chaturthi: Fears about rupee, economy don't dull the festivity

As Ganesh Chaturthi kicks off on Monday, observers are noting that the cries of ‘Ganpati Bappa Moriya!’ might be drowning out the fears of recession, as mandals around the city are bigger and better than ever. The biggest mandal in the city, the GSB Seva mandal will have a 12-foot statue with four arms being in solid gold. The total weight of the gold will be 80 kilos. According to IBNLive, the mandal is also being insured for Rs 223 crore, as opposed to last year when it was insured for Rs 222 crore. The cost of decorating Lalbaugcha Raja, which is arguably the most famous of the city mandals and is often frequented by Bollywood celebrities, is estimated at Rs 17 lakh, of which Rs 3 lakh is for gold decorations alone. The festivities continue to have their usual splendour while regular folk feel the pinch of rising prices. “Expenses are high, and everything we buy costs twice as much as it did last year,” said one Mumbaiite to IBNLive. [caption id=“attachment_1094635” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Ganesh idol. PTI image[/caption] Ashok Bhandari, who organises a Ganesh mandal in the Dadar area of Mumbai, backed this up while speaking to the Economic Times. “Getting funding for the Ganesh festival has never been a problem,” he says. “Even during recession it is not an issue.” It’s also true that the fact that it’s an election year will ensure that donations do not slow down. “Since this is a pre-election period, there is no doubt that the sponsorship from politicians will be at a higher level than usual,” says MP Bharatkumar Raut, who’s closely associated with Mumbai’s famous Siddhivinayak temple trust, to the Economic Times.