Lord Ganesha, the remover of all obstacles, arrived on Sunday amidst cheerful cries of Ganpati Bappa Moraya - marking the beginning of the 10-day long Ganeshotsav throughout Nashik.Though the number of vendors selling Ganesh idols this year was the same as last year, the number of idols sold have come down by 30% this year due to the 30-40% rise in prices of Ganesh idols due to the hike in rates of raw materials and shortage of idols. The total turnover in the city on Saturday and Sunday is estimated at Rs 2 crore.According to market sources, sales of idols alone touched Rs 85 lakh with sales of Rs 20 lakh of replicas of temple, throne, chariot, wheel and other accessories. The rest of the turnover was in the form of pandals, gulal, sweets, flower, electric & electronic items and music systems that adorn the pandals.Of the 1.25 lakh-odd Ganesh idols that are sold in Nashik every year, 30%(or 37,000) are made locally while the rest are sourced from Konkan, Ahmednagar, Gujarat and Rajasthan.This year, the scenario is very different. Heavy rains and floods damaged around 30% idols. Of the usual 50 idol-makers, only 15 came here from Gujrat and Rajasthan. Moreover, around 20% idols were damaged due to incessant rains. The damage of idols due to heavy rains and hike in the rates of raw materials like plaster of paris (PoP) and transporting charges led to around 30-40% rise in the prices of Ganesh idols.About 200 vendors had set up their stalls across the city out of which 68 were at the Nehru Garden area alone. Around 70,000 small and large idols were sold across the city. Usually, small idols (6 inches to 2 feet) are installed at homes while sarvajanik mandals prefer large idols (3 to 10 feet). This year, about 850 mandals have installed idols of Lord Ganesha.
