Bangalore Ganesh Utsava – an evening spent well

Having spent my first two years of work life in the heart of Bangalore, Basavanagudi I had been oblivious to the spectacular Ganesha Utsava that happens in Acharya Patashala Grounds.

I had skipped all these years possibly because I was indisposed towards crowded gatherings but only now I realized that it would have been worth the crowd.

 This year marked the 51^st celebration of the famous Ganesha Utsava and that in my opinion is really commendable. To keep the show going on for 51 years and attracting people from all over Bangalore over all these years surely says something about the event.

The first ganesh utsava was started in the year 1962 by a group called Shri Vidyaranya Yuvaka Sanga which was the brain child of two brothers in GK Gopal and GK Obhaiah.  Vinayaka Cycle mart in DVG road was the first venue of this utsava. The two brothers and few likeminded people started the group viz a viz the utsava with an objective to promote literature, culture and kannada and the essence is continued even today with manifold programs lined up for 10days starting on the day of Ganesha Chaturthi.

Artists from all over India come here to perform to a crowd who appreciate music, culture, dance and art. Celebrities of the likes Hema Malini, Kareena Kapoor , Shaan, Usha Uthup, Rajesh Krishnan and more have marked the Utsava over the years.

Along with the cultural extravagance, the BGU has lately started the Sand Utsava where a huge Ganapathi is made out of sand. The 50^th year of BGU also exhibited one of the biggest laddos which weighed about 6000kg.

The sand art is very intricate and receives special attention.

The APS grounds which has been hosting the ganesha utsava year after year is vast and accommodates innumerous handicrafts, food and entertainment stalls along with the Sand Ganapathi, Paper ganapathi and the traditional ganapathi to which Pooja is offered everyday for 10 days.  The pandal seating the traditional ganapathi is magnificent and large and beholds the visitor for reasonably long enough time without crowd menace.

Not having much to do over the weekend, me and hubby decided to go the Utsava on 15 September 2013 which was the 7^th day of the event.  The events lined up for the event was a show by Beats Guru and Euphoria. I have to confess here that I was inclined towards going mainly because of euphoria playing and the other attraction “Aromas of Karnataka”.

 “Aromas of Karnataka” is an initiative by the Shri Vidyaranya Yuvaka Sanga to showcase the delicacies from various parts of Karnataka and each of these stalls hosts the cuisine unique to the place.  We found some interesting items like Floating Pani Puri, Halu Bai, Jack Fruit Mulaka,

Floating Pani Puri

Neer dosa

Kurukoti Avalakki, Ragi dosa, and more.

One can spend an hour and more in trying many of the delicacies. The utsava has something to offer for everyone, along with the food there are stalls displaying food items, handicrafts, gardening items to buy from. I would rather not comment on the prices but one thing that caught my attention was a stall selling kitchen garden items, that is soil, seeds, fertilizers etc. I could not move on from there without paying for a Brinjal plant for my balcony garden.

This blog would not be complete without a mention about the Beats Guru. They are Bangalore based band whose music is mostly influenced by African Tribal, tribal trance, Arabian and more.  The way their lead artist Ganesh sensed the audience pulse and played the tunes was simple awe-inspiring. I never realized that I spent more than hour going around the stalls listening to their instrumentals.  The second performance Euphoria
really doesn’t need any introduction, Palash and team played some of their famous numbers , some popular rock songs of Bollywood and others as well.

Overall it was a beautiful evening spent with art, music, food and fun!