Marathi Mandal Korea’s 9th Ganesh Utsav - 2019

EE News Desk Sep 12, 2019

Ganesh Chaturthi festival is one of the most spectacular and popular among Indian festivals and Indians living abroad also celebrate this festival with the same passion. South Korea has a small Marathi group which was initially formed by enthusiastic Maharashtrian community and named “Marathi Mandal Korea (MMK)”. For a few years now, this MMK group has grown into a big family (around 1000 members) and worked hard for the nurturing the Marathi Sanskriti in Korea. One major accomplishment being the wonderful celebration of Ganesh Utsav in Korea for a few years.

This is the 9th year of Ganesh Utsav in Seoul, and it commenced with the Sthapana (establishment) of lord Ganesha. The Marathi Mandal Korea karyakartas had prepared for this grand event taking place on 8th September for several months by using the MMK Facebook page and active WhatsApp groups. The response for this festival was quite fascinating with the number of devotees registering at MMK website (www.marathimandalkorea.com) being well over 200. The auditorium provided by the support of Korea-India Association (KOINA) in Seoul was chosen as the location for the celebration of Ganesh festival.

On 8th September, the splendid festival began with Ganesh Aarti and Nandi recited by fellow Marathi members with great devotion. Following the Aarti and Nandi, the devotees worshipped the idol of lord Ganesh and prayed for their wellbeing while chanting “Ganpati Bappa Morya”. The auspicious program began with introduction of the Lord Ganesh and welcoming the distinguished dignitaries and devotees. A video presentation about the Marathi Mandal Korea activities conducted throughout the year was displayed.

Followed by a number of cultural activities like song recitals and dances by young lads, incredible dancing to Bollywood songs, spirited singing to old melodies and fancy dress competition for little ones were conducted. The program concluded with the distribution of token of appreciation for individual efforts and a sincere vote of thanks for all the sponsors, spectators, participants as well as the volunteers.

Lastly, it was time for the Bappa to leave with the final Aarti and Mantrapushpanjali. The devotees took the final blessings for this year and bid adieu to their Bappa with the chants of “Ganpati Bappa Morya….Pudhchya Varshi Lavkar Ya!”