BAPPA COMES TO MADRAS

Sowcarpet turns into a slice of Maharasthra for five days every year, where tall idols of Lord Ganesha is kept in every street

- SONU M KOTHARI

THE narrow passageways of Sowcarpet where one street bleeds into another, the aroma of ghee-laden sweets blends with spicy chaat, footpaths and roads blur, homes become an extension of retail outlets, and where conversations simultaneously flow in Tamil, Marwari, Marathi, Gujarati, and Hindi is a maze that never completely untangles.

Every year, during most festivals, this neighbourhood opens up like a grand stage. Be it selling clay lamps during Deepavali and Karthigai Deepam, stars and lanterns during Christmas and New Year, or a stunning display of clothes during Navaratri. Sowcarpet is an intricate web of culture and society, uniting people in joy and devotion.

This week, for Vinayaga Chaturthi, the neighbourhood once again converged to welcome Bappa. Take a walk from NSC Bose Road to Mulla Sahib Street, and you will come across centres of celebration, and witness a place where friendship, festivity, and faith coincide with the everyday bustle of business and the commotion of shopping.

Ganesha in the gallis

For the past few decades, the Maharashtra Mitra Mandal Trust Ganesh Temple at Hanumantharayan Koil Street has been an abode of festivities come August-September. A week before Vinayaga Chaturthi, the Ganesha idol is transported from a different part of Maharashtra each year.

"This year, the idol is from Kolhapur because the sculptors there make attractive idols. The finishing they give is heart-touching and feels like home," says Shobha Prakash Koli, a devotee and member of the trust.

The trust invites a pandit and a dhol-tasha music band from Mumbai. This year, the priest is from Pandharpur. Every evening, between 5 pm and 7 pm, he sits in front of the community members on a makeshift stage, next to the idols, dressed in a white kurta and topi to conduct a pravachan (sharing devotional stories).