Festival in time of floods: Kolhapur mandals cancel orders for idols from Mumbai

MUMBAI: The floods that ravaged Kolhapur and Sangli have cast a shadow on the upcoming Ganesh festival. Idol-makers in the city are seeing some cancellations in orders or a delay in pick-ups as several homes, which were expecting to celebrate the festival, are now broken.
One of the foremost idol-making studios in Mumbai belongs to Reshma Khatu. It is here in Parel that Kolhapur sources its large 20-ft-plus moortis each season.
She said that the Kolhapur mandals normally arrive by August 10, but this time they are delayed and have only just started making their way out.A few have called up to say they will come by August 28. Generally, smaller idols are ordered locally, it's only the large idols that are ordered from Mumbai.
Khatu said, "The trend of large idols is picking up pace in that city. This year, we are crafting seven idols for Kolhapur-two large ones, about 20-23 ft tall and the rest smaller than that. We have not had any cancellations, but pick-ups have been delayed by a week or 10 days. Some mandals have cancelled their aagman sohala (arrival celebration) which is done on a grand scale."
She said, "Not just inner roads, even highways leading out of Kolhapur were flooded, posing problems for people who arrive to take delivery of their idols. They all transport moortis by road, in trucks or tempos, especially as large idols do not fit into train compartments."
A mandal from Kolhapur reached the workshop of sculptor Rajan Zhad on Saturday to cart its 18-ft-tall idol to that city upon a large trailer. Mandal representative Bipin Ghorpade said, "We were only able to make it to Mumbai after the Kolhapur highway opened. But the festival of Ganeshotsav is a washout in our city. The roads are submerged and pandal areas are dripping wet so we cannot put up large sets. Moreover, the houses of our 50-60 volunteers have been inundated, so it is difficult to organise on the scale that we do. Resources are also short at present. We are definitely cutting corners."
The mandal began its journey late on Saturday night and will reach Kolhapur after a 36-hour journey on Monday.
Sagar Patil, a sculptor who has his workshop in Worli, said that he has had two cancellations so far and there are two orders where the mandals are yet to pick up their orders. "There is definitely a shortage of budget. Mandals have requested me to give them some more time to come and pick up the idols," said Patil.
Satish Walivadekar, who has his workshop at Currey Road and also hails from Kolhapur, said that since there is time for the festival, he is hoping that the situation in Kolhapur will normalise by then. "I am also from Kolhapur and so I know the situation back home. Since there is some time for the festival, we are hoping that the situation normalises. Also, the orders that I have, I will be giving them at concessional rates to mandals from affected areas," said Walivadekar.
Sangli was also flooded to a great degree, but the trend of large idols is not rampant in that city, so festival organisers do not travel to Mumbai's idol-makers, says Reshma Khatu.