This Dadar housing society will complete Ganeshotsav century
Indravadan Society’s Ganpati pandal used to be a rallying point for freedom fighters
America, is among 300 former residents, and cricketer Sachin Tendulkar’s family, who are expected to join the celebrations. Tendulkar’s aunt still lives in the building. “My father used to be very active in the society’s Ganpati celebrations. He wouldn’t participate in the programmes but wanted us to be a part of it. This visit is more of a tribute to him, and a chance to meet some friends I haven’t seen in ages,” Parashar said.
The chawl was one of the first in the city to respond to Lokmanya Tilak’s call to use Ganeshotsav as a rallying point for freedom fighters. “We are having former society members come back for the celebrations because that’s how Tilak had envisioned the Ganpati festival to be. Though, we would be missing a few regular visitors, such as former cricketer Ajit Wadekar. But, we have a long list of celebrities who would come to take darshan of Bappa,” says Shekhar Shirwalkar, secretary of the society. He says the chawl used to be a sanctuary for freedom fighters such as Veer Savarkar who wanted to go underground.
Society residents have created a Peshwa temple theme this year, with the pandal entrance taking the shape of a ‘100’ in Devanagari script. They have also decided to go eco-friendly this year, by putting all the nirmalya (leftover flowers) in the compost pit.
“We have always had a small murti made out of natural clay for more than 50 years. This year, we will immerse the idol in an artificial pond and have switched to wooden and cloth decoration, instead of thermocol,” said Dilip Vighne, the advisor for the Indravadan Society’s Ganeshotsav.