Diamonds, gold and clay! Lord Ganesha’s many avatars in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: A gold-plated idol studded with American diamonds and an idol with a “Viksit Bharat” (Developed India) theme are among the several unique Ganesh idols installed for worship at pandals in the city as the nine-day Ganesh Chaturthi festivities kicked off on Monday.

Prominent micro artist Ajay Kumar Mattewada from Warangal sculpted an extremely tiny Ganesha, measuring just 150 microns in height, on a human hair approximately 100 microns in diameter.

A human hair is generally about 80–100 microns thick, and the miniature Ganesha he made can be viewed clearly only through a microscope, Mattewada said.

The organisers of a pandal at Begum Bazar here unveiled a gold-plated Ganesha idol studded with about 3.80 lakh American diamonds.

“This year, we have installed a 24-carat gold-plated Ganpati idol here at Begum Bazaar, Feelkhana. The idol has about 3.80 lakh American diamonds fitted into it. We made this idol using Panch Dhatu, which means five different metals; it is brass-based,” Aadhar Agarwal, a pandal organiser told PTI Videos.

At Uppuguda here, the Mallikarjuna Nagar Youth Welfare Association, celebrating its 50th anniversary, set up the pandal with the Viksit Bharat theme of the NDA government.

“We dressed Lord Ganesha in an armour-like, robotic form and prepared the idol with the help of an artist. We wanted to think of something new for the pandal that could convey a message to people – something that brings together both patriotism and devotion to God,” Sushil Kumar, an organiser, said.

As the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations got underway on Monday, lakhs of idols of various sizes and forms have been installed across Hyderabad and Telangana.

The major attraction of the Ganesh Chaturthi in the state has been the giant sized Ganesh idol installed at the pandal at Khairatabad in Hyderabad.

This year a 69-ft tall idol has been installed at the Khairatabad pandal. The idol has been named Pancha Mukha Sankata Hara Maha Ganapati, wishing for the removal of devotees’ obstacles.

Telangana Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla, Union Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy, state ministers and several leaders offered prayers at the giant idol of Ganapati.

Thousands of devotees thronged the pandal on Monday evening and the rush will continue until the immersion of the idols after nine days.