Jamshedpur: Ganesh Puja was celebrated with much fervour in the steel city on Thursday.

Hundreds of devotees flocked at Sree Bala Ganapati Vilas puja pandal in Kadma, which stepped on its 100th year. The puja was inaugurated by former chief minister Arjun Munda on Wednesday.

Set up at a budget of Rs 35 lakh, the 60ft pandal has been modelled on Sripuram Golden Temple in Tamil Nadu and houses a towering 14ft idol of lord Ganesh.

State food and civil supplies minister Saryu Roy performed the 'abhishekam puja' on Thursday that continued for two hours. A 17-day fair, boasting over 200 kiosks and six amusement rides, was also inaugurated on its premises by Jamshedpur MP Bidyut Baran Mahto on Thursday.

"We want to offer prayers to Lord Ganesh with utmost devotion. This time there are lesser number of stalls at the fair as compared to earlier years as we wanted to focus on the rituals," said general secretary of Sree Bala GanapatiVilas, Y. K. Sharma.

The 105-year-old Ganesh Puja at Maharashtra Hitkari Mandal in Bistupur organised Ganapati Sthapna on Thursday.

Nagpuri-based artiste Pragya Kulkarni performed Krishna Katha on the first day of Ganesh Chaturthi. On September 15 there will be a performance by local orchestra troupe followed by a monologue act by local artiste Sriprakash Sapre the next day. Besides, elocution for children and several cultural programmes have also been lined up in the next 10 days.

"We have been celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi for over 100 years now with an aim to uphold Marathi culture in Jamshedpur. Our cultural programme primarily consists of Marathi drama, song and dance so that children here are aware about our traditions. Nowadays we have included performances in Hindi as well," said committee member of Maharashtra Hitkari Mandal Rohini Sathaye.

Throwing light on the history of the puja, Sathaye said they organised the first puja at a quaint house in G-Town, Bistupur, and three years later in 1916 the committee came into existence. "Before the outfit had an office on Q. Road in 1920, the puja was organised at the house of one the members. Later, we started functioning from our current location on K-Road," Sathaye added.

Andhra Bhakta Kolata Samajam is also organising its 93rd Ganesh Puja in G-Town. The puja pandal was inaugurated by Lalit Das, social worker and son of chief minister Raghubar Das.