PANAJI
Hundreds of Goans bid farewell to Lord Ganesha on Saturday night marking the end of one-and-half day visarjan across the State keeping in mind the Covid SOPs and social distancing norms.
The visarjan timings were different for all, and while some families preferred to do the immersion in the evening soon after the aarti and prasad distribution, others preferred to bid farewell to the lord of wisdom after nightfall, but before midnight.
There were no strict restrictions imposed by the State government and people were seen following the regulatory norms on their own, amid fears of the anticipated third wave.
Usha Naik, a resident from the heart of the city Margao, usually has a celebration of five days. Naik’s large joint family keeps the Ganesh idol for five days and immerses it on the fifth night amid live band playing.
“This time we skipped the five-day celebration and decided to have a one-and-half day ritual,” shares Sonu Naik, an elderly from the Naik family.
However, the celebration cost the Naik family double than usual, as the prices of all that was a ‘must’ in the celebration process had escalated this year.
The Naiks did take out a procession with the family members but the overall enthusiasm was subdued due to the reduction in days of the festival.
There was a rush to have ‘darshan’ of the sarvajanik Ganesh idols on day one (Friday), but day two (Saturday), the crowd got reduced, as most had their own Ganesh farewell at home.
Despite the price hike, the devotees did not leave any stone unturned while procuring matoli items, décor pieces, lights, fire crackers and sweets.
The prices of ‘modaks’ in the mithai shops were high this year and chocolate ‘modaks’ being the most preferred buy were sold for Rs 600-800 a kg.
The turnover in the markets was also largely affected by the pandemic and only readymade garment shops, superstores, and sweet shops saw a rush before the festival.
Showrooms dealing in electronics reported no sizable sales this time, compared to what they did before the pandemic.
