With Ganesh Chaturthi nearing, idols, both big and small, have sprung up on every street corner in Nellore and Ongole as part of the nine-day festival.
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The civic and police officials, who banned big social gatherings in the last two years, have relaxed the stringent conditions this time, making way for grand celebrations across South Coastal Andhra Pradesh.
Idol-makers at Chagollu in Nellore district got a good number of orders well in advance despite increase in the production cost following rise in the price of inputs, including paint by over 20%. Idols from here are taken to different parts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
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“I expect to make good the losses incurred last year due to subdued celebrations in the last two years due to COVID-19,” said a workshop owner, Manugunta Srinivasa Rao, in the village close to Chennai-Kolkata highway. Many shopkeepers faced big trouble due to cancellation of orders at the 11th hour in view stringent restrictions put in place by the authorities to discourage big social gatherings last year.
Sri Sri Paper Merchants Association, in collaboration with New Venkatrama and Co stationery shops, distributed clay idols to the youth to organise the celebrations in nature-friendly way.
“We have made arrangements for distribution of 7,000 plus idols this year,” said social activist Sripathi Srinivasa Rao after giving away the idols at the Gandhi statue centre in Nellore.
In Prakasam’s Ongole, artists from Rajasthan, camping on the city outskirts to make big idols, burnt midnight oil to meet the heavy demand.
Thanks to the sustained campaign launched by civil society organisations, Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations are likely to go green with more devotees making a conscious effort to use environment-friendly material for making Ganesh idols.