Shirish Paranjape
Christchurch, September 25, 2024
More than 150 members of the Christchurch Indian community bid farewell to Lord Ganesh on Ananta Chaturdashi, which marked the end of the 10-day Ganeshotsav celebrations.
Held at the Bishopdale Community Centre on Tuesday, 17 September 2024, the event was short and crisp.
Organised by the Christchurch Marathi Group, the event began with a recital of a ‘Naandi’ (an invocation of Gods before the commencement of a religious ritual) by Veena Joshi and Ketki Karandikar Tamhankar.
Traditional Dances
This was followed by a solo Ganesh Vandana dance in Bharat Natyam by Pavithra Maduram Ravi, ‘Gajanana Shree Ganaraya’ by Amit Raut and a Kathak dance recital by Aishwarya Naik with the hymn, Ekdantaya Dheemahi.
Thereafter, a solo Ganpati Stuti by debutant Veera Sandheep (son of Pavithra Maduram Ravi and Sandheep Anant Kumar) as Sangeet Samarpan.
Interspersed between these performances were announcements of forthcoming community events, namely Garba Rolls in October, and the soon-to-begin construction of the Christchurch Hindu Temple.
Aartis to Lord Ganesh was a highlight of the evening, filling the hall with the resonance of the collective voice of devotees of the Lord.
The event concluded with Prasad.
Shirish Paranjape is a Christchurch Correspondent of Indian Newslink. The photographs appearing here were supplied by him.
