Maha Mrityunjay temple replica draws crowds in Bhiwandi ganesh pandal
Modelled on the temple located in Assam, the ganesh pandal has been drawing 20,000 visitors daily to see the 110feet high shivling
Bhiwandi
Thousands of ganesh devotees are visiting Dhamankar Naka ganesh mandal in Bhiwandi to catch a glimpse of a replica of the Maha Mrityunjay Temple from Assam, built in a form a a huge Shivling.
Dhamankar Naka mandal is popular for recreating eye-catching and larger than life replicas of famous national monuments and architectural wonders during the 10-day ganesh festival, and the imposing 110-feet high shivling modelled on the temple located 12 kms from Nagaon in Assam is attracting large number o fdevotees. The construction of the replica engaged 100 artisans from Calcutta who gave shape to the temple over the last 60 days. Over 20,000 bamboos, 7,000 meters of cloth, and 10 tonnes of sticks were used to construct the shivling.
Dilip Omprakash Poddar, an office-bearer of Swamibhan Seva Santha and Dhamnakar Naka Mitra Mandal, said, “We have a daily footfall of over 20,000 devotees coming across the Bhiwandi city and adjoining suburbs like Kalyan and Ulhasnagar, and Thane. Out of the team that built the replica, nearly 25 odd people have stayed back for the duration of the festival to carry out any maintenance of the replica.”
Poddar said, “We formed a team comprising four to five people who visited Assam’s Nagaon city and surveyed the temple and its history in detail. They came back and executed it to perfection.”
Santosh Shetty, President of Dhamakar Naka Mitra Mandal and Swabhiman Seva Santha said, “We try to make famous and prominent temple replicas every year as a large number of devotees come here to catch a glimpse of Ganeshji and experience the feel of what we make.” he added, “We had made a replica of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya last year. Earlier we have made replicas of Akshardham temple, Somnath temple, Surya temple, Jagannath temple, Kalimata temple. Our volunteers take up the challenge of creating a novel temple replica with enthusiasm and devotees also await to catch something new from the Mandal.”
The mandal completes 35 years of its establishment this year. For the last 11 years, it has also been organising a popular drawing competition for school children which sees participation across Bhiwandi. This year, the drawing competition them was former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam and saw participation from over 4,500 students from 41 schools across Bhiwandi. It also organised an exhibition of weapons used by Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s army in its battle against the Mughals.
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