Bhubaneswar, Aug. 25: A shortage of priests today forced several schools, colleges and committees to postpone Ganesh Puja till as late as 4pm as the state embraced another day of celebration in the calendar.
Ashish Behera, member of a Nayapalli club, said: "We were trying to rope in a priest for two days, but every one in nearby areas were busy. At last, we waited in front of a temple and had to cajole a priest him to come to our club and perform the rituals."
Chandan Nayak, secretary of the Friends' Club Puja Managing Committee, elaborated on the dearth of priests for rituals. He said: "With over 500 pujas in the city itself, getting hold of a priest has become a headache."
The weather gods also smiled on revellers as they hit the streets from early in the morning. The state capital witnessed huge crowds at malls and stores, while students poured their heart out in decking their schools and colleges for the occasion.
Like every year, the puja committees also embraced the competitive spirit with several unique idols earning rave reviews from visitors. Baahubali was a favourite theme for this year's puja.
The 22ft Sarvamukhi Ganesh idol at Saheed Club Mandap in Saheed Nagar also garnered much attention. The idol has 21 heads and 42 hands with weapons in each of them.
"This is something that we had never seen before and it was really eye-catching," said Monalisa Padee, a visitor.
Idols of pot-bellied Ganesh were seen in various avatars, such as Ganapati in the form of lord Vishnu relaxing on the Sheshnag (Shesha is considered a servant and a manifestation of Vishnu) or like Krishna dancing on the hood of the evil snake Kalia.
Idol making began almost two months ago. "We made many idols of varying sizes, but we got specific orders as well that we received well in advance. Most of these customers come back every year," said Sukumar Behera, an artisan at Unit-I market.
Even the block grant teachers who have protesting at Lower PMG Square for the past week also worshipped lord Ganesh at the protest site today after a high-level meeting with state government officials ended inconclusively yesterday. The followed all the rituals at the dharna site, including blowing conches as the priest's chants filled the air.
Ananya Jena, one of the protesting teachers, said: "It is very unfortunate that we are being compelled to stay out on the streets and worship the lord here instead of being with our students on such an occasion."
"We prayed for the state government to abolish the block grant system at the earliest," said Sudeep Mohanty, another teacher.
