A big pond for immersion

A big pond for immersion
Deccan Herald Spectrum



All these years immersion of Ganapati idols was a major problem faced by the general public due to the non-availability of suitable wells. Existing wells did not have adequate water thus forcing the authorities concerned to fill them with water every year.

However, this year it is not a problem since the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation has constructed a big pond inside the Indira Glass House for immersion of four to five idols simultaneously.

The brain behind this idea is Mr P Manivannan, commissioner of HDMC. A contractor from Belgaum has specially designed this pond to suit the needs of Hublites. There will be four to five pedestals around the pond on which people can keep the idols, perform pooja and immerse them.


The pond is about 20-25 feet deep and it is fenced on all sides. The idea behind this is to prevent the mad rush near the one and only well situated adjacent to the old bus stand which remains dry throughout the year. The HDMC will be putting bright lights around the pond for clear visibility.

Gearing up for Ganesha

Gearing up for Ganesha
Deccan Herald Spectrum

Unconventional Ganeshas in every nook and corner, bright lights and lots of colour, and a surging mass of humanity lapping it all up — Ganesh Chaturthi in Hubli is a sight to watch indeed, writes Shyam Sundar Vattam.

It could be the Maharashtrian influence or simply the tradition here, but watching Hubli gear up for the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations is a treat. Perhaps, no other city in north Karnataka grabs people’s attention the way Hubli does during this festival. Thousands of people from every walk of life from neighbouring districts make it a point to visit the city and have darshan of a variety of Ganapati idols.

This year the celebrations seem to be more colourful thanks to bountiful rains after three successive years of drought. The idols that are prepared here are different when compared with those in south Karnataka and this is due to the influence of Maharashtra. Idols of different shapes, sizes and colours adorn the streets of the city. The organisers select a different theme every year and place orders accordingly. There have been Ganapati idols protecting the World Trade Centre of the United States of America, Lord Ganesha holding sten guns protecting Kargil, the Lord killing notorious forest bandit Veerappan and rescuing Dr Rajkumar and also blessing former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Ms Uma Bharati who was portrayed holding the national tri-colour. This year the theme is kept a secret and it will be made known only on the day of the festival.

The uniqueness of the Hubli Ganesha festival has been that it is celebrated on a grand scale, starting from day one till the day of immersion. The pandal, decoration, illumination and variety of idols are a sight indeed! The whole of Hubli comes alive during the festival. Serpentine queues in front of pandals are a common feature. For the past two years police have banned the collection of Rs 1 or Rs 2 as entry fee by the organisers as ‘darshan fees’. Many times people finish their dinner and then visit every Ganapathi idol installed in the city and seek blessings from the Lord. Business also booms during the festival with thousands of people visiting the city during the celebrations.


Old timers recall that about 2-3 decades ago people of this region went to Miraj, Pune or Mumbai to witness the Ganesh celebrations and watch cultural programmes organised in this connection. Now the situation has reversed with people from those regions coming to North Karnataka to take part in the celebrations here. While some organisers place orders for the supply of idols with local makers, a few go to Belgaum and other places. For them money is not a problem. All that matters to them is that their idol is as different as can be from the other’s. They spend not less than Rs 20,000 or Rs 30,000 on the idols, lighting and pandal.

The situation was entirely different about three to four decades ago when only about 8-10 organisers used to install idols in their respective localities. This had resulted in fisticuffs among the organisers on the issue of installation and immersion of the idols. However, in 1976, Mr S S Kamadolli Shettar, a prominent resident of Hubli came out with the novel idea of floating the Hubli Sarvajanika Sri Ganeshotsava Samitigala Mahamandala to bring all Ganapati mandalas under a common umbrella. Indeed this idea was the first of its kind in the country. Initially there was lukewarm response to his idea but it became popular in subsequent years. Now more than 250 organisers have registered with the mahamandal and everything has been going on smoothly without any hitch. Every year the mahamandal conducts competitions such as the best Ganapati idol, decoration and illumination among its member organisers and gives away prizes. A team comprising 20-30 members from a cross section of society visit each and every pandal and announce the awards. The mahamandal has completed its silver jubilee and is doing yeomen service to the general public. The mahamandal will decide the dates for immersion of the idols on the ninth and eleventh day as per the Hindu calender so as to avoid rush.

In the late 80s both the Ganapati festival and the Moharrum festival fell on the same day and at that time the mahamandal exhibited communal harmony by holding both the festivals on one forum.

This has further strengthened the bond between the Hindus and Muslims and have brought the two communities together. Another interesting aspect had been that so far, there has been no communal clash in Hubli especially during Ganapati celebrations and for this the credit goes to the Mahamandala.

The mahamandal charges a nominal fee from every mandala as registration fee and the collected sum is used to help the poor and the needy. A few years ago, a girl was injured in the eye in a cracker burst while she was having darshan of Ganapati in Hubli. The mahamandal members decided to bear the medical expenses of that girl. Besides, it had also extended financial help to a boy to undergo heart surgery. The oldest ganapati is on Station Road and it has completed a century. The popular slogan, “Ganapati bappa moreya, pursha varshi loukar ya” has brought the people of all caste, colour and religion together.

Fall in values among teachers decried

Fall in values among teachers decried
The Hindu

DHARWAD: Minister for Primary and Secondary Education R. Ramalinga Reddy on Monday expressed concern over the falling values among members of the teaching fraternity.

Speaking at a function organised here to present the State-level awards to primary and secondary school teachers on the occasion of Teachers' Day, Mr. Reddy said that after education has been made a fundamental right, a great responsibility has been placed on teachers not only to ensure quality education but also to improve the attendance of the students in schools.

Thirty-two teachers from the primary and secondary schools from all over the State were presented with the State awards including the awards in memory of Rajiv Gandhi and Vignana Parishat award at the function, which was held for the first time outside Bangalore.

He said that the State Government has created a special educational zone for the northwest Karnataka region as a part of decentralisation, and this has given an impetus for attending to the problems with alacrity.

The Commissionerate for the zone created at Dharwad has been striving hard for the improvement of the education in the eight districts of the region.

The State Government had permitted opening of 32 government and 56 private high schools in the region and in current year had sanctioned filling up of 1,040 posts of teachers for 599 government schools.

One Kuvempu Centenary schools has been started in each of the eight districts and Rs. 1.45 crore has been sanctioned for meeting the basic infrastructure facilities, he said.

The State Government had also started 18 Kasturba Residential schools for girls for which Rs. 2.90 cores has been sanctioned. Under the Mahiti Sindhu scheme, 222 high schools have been provided with computers and training centres have been established in collaboration with Microsoft for providing the needed training to the teachers in Dharwad and Gulbarga districts, he said.

Basavaraj Horatti, Minister for Science and Technology, expressed anguish over what he considered indiscriminate transfer of the teachers undertaken this year. There is a need for evolving a uniform policy, the Minister added.

Mr Horatti said that the State Government will ensure that primary school teachers get their salary on the fifth of every month shortly. Pralhad Joshi, Manjunath Kunnur, MPs, Jagadish Shettar, State Bharatiya Janata Party President, Veeranna Mathikatti, MLC, and Vinay Kulkarni, MLA, spoke. S.R. Morey, Minister for Municipal Administration, presided.

Vijay Bhaskar, Secretary, Department of Education, and Madan Gopal, Commissioner of Public Instruction, were present.

27-day theatre festival inaugurated

27-day theatre festival inaugurated
The Hindu

DHARWAD: A 27-day national theatre festival, featuring dramas in multi languages got under way at the Srijana Auditorium on the Karnataka College Campus on Monday.

Inaugurating the festival, film director T.S. Nagahbharana said the State Government has the responsibility of identifying talent and fostering it.

The festival has been organised to mark the silver jubilee of Abhinaya Bharati, a drama troupe based in Dharwad, which has carved out a niche for itself in the theatre movement of Karnataka.

The theme of the festival is peace and friendship, the message which had been sent out on the occasion of World Theatre Day.

No progress in efforts to resolve question of Kalasa-Banduri Nala

No progress in efforts to resolve question of Kalasa-Banduri Nala
The Hindu

HUBLI: For those who expected a breakthrough in the impasse over the execution of the twin diversion projects of Kalasa-Banduri Nala for meeting drinking water requirement, the outcome of consultations between an all-party delegation and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday was a disappointment.

The visit by the delegation to New Delhi was not exclusively for discussing the Kalasa-Banduri Nala projects, as was the impression given by Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh to agitators in Bombay Karnataka.

The floods in the State and the Central assistance sought for providing relief to the affected justifiably dominated the nearly 15-minute meeting. The Kalasa-Banduri Nala issue was relegated, with the directive given by the Union Ministry of Water Resources to reduce the water level in Alamatti Dam "at the behest of the Maharashtra" coming up as the second subject of discussion.

In-principle clearance

The Union Ministry of Water Resources first gave an "in principle" clearance for the execution of the projects for the diversion of 7.54 tmcft of water from Kalasa and Banduri nalas, two tributaries of the west-flowing Mahadayi river, to the Malaprabha Reservoir for meeting the drinking water requirement of villages and Hubli-Dharwad.

The Union Government, reportedly at the behest of the Goa Government, issued an order "keeping in abeyance the clearance." This happened during the days of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre, and the United Progressive Alliance Government has been found to be in no way different.

When the Chief Minister promised to lead a delegation to the Prime Minister in this connection sometime ago, the plan was to seek his intervention to end the uncertainty, since the delay in getting clearance was making people in the command areas of the Malaprabha project in the northern Karnataka region restive.

According to members of the delegation, including Prahlad Joshi, Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Dharwad North, Mr. Manmohan Singh took the stand that it was not his government but that of the NDA that stayed the "in principle" clearance. He told the delegation he would talk to the Minister concerned, Mr. Joshi told this correspondent.