Virtual Ganeshotsav for overseas Kannadigas

With the pandemic restricting Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations, five devotees in USA, Australia, and Singapore, offered puja to eco-friendly idols installed at the residence of artist Manjunath Hiremath in Dharwad. They attended the pujas virtually.
Hiremath said he launched the ‘global virtual Ganeshotsav’ last year, after Covid restrictions made travel and celebrations difficult.
“Many idols of mine were unsold, and I put out posts on social media on financial difficulties I was facing,” Hiremath said. “Many devotees offered help and I suggested that they buy one of my idols. However, the idea of just taking money from them didn’t appeal to me, so I thought I’d perform pujas in their names. That is how the event came about. This year, five Kannadigas residing in the USA, Australia and Singapore wished to have virtual pujas.”
Harihar Ramarao, a technician residing in Ingleburn, a suburb of Sydney, Australia, and his wife Jyoti, participated in the virtual puja.
“We were happy that our wish of offering puja to Lord Ganesha was fulfilled,” Ramarao said. “We usually flew back to our home in Bengaluru every year during Ganeshotsav, but that hasn’t been possible since the pandemic hit. Hiremath is an ecofriendly artist so we thought our puja will be divine. We also made the ‘sankalp’ [resolution]. Hiremmath explained all the rituals in detail while performing the pujas. Though we were far from our homeland, it boosted our morale.”
Yadunandan Raghavacharya, a techie from Bengaluru but currently residing in Singapore, said he attended the puja via Zoom last year.
“This year it was not possible to attend due to time differences between Singapore and Dharwad,” he said. “However, Hiremath shared a video of the puja which was performed in our name. Through this virtual utsav, we were able to extend our help to an ecofriendly idol maker. Also, the festive atmosphere, which we miss here, was retained.”
Hiremath said all five idols were immersed in an artificial pond at his home.