Replica of Sansthan Ganpati to be installed as utsav murti

Aurangabad, Sept 8:

Nearly after a century, the Ganesh devotees got to see the original form of the idol of Sansthan Ganpati Gramdaivat of Aurangabad city. This year, the temple trust will establish an utsav murti that will be a replica of the original idol.

It is the tradition of the city to start any procession from Sansthan Ganpati in Rajabazar. The tradition of many decades continues to this day. The idol of Lord Ganesha was established 350 years ago. When Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak came to the city, he used to carry out further work only after taking the darshan of Sansthan Ganpati. However, due to applying vermilion (Shendur) for several years, the original form of the idol was not visible. The trust removed the layer last year through Vajralep. Similarly, sculptor late Ratanlal Bagle started the tradition of establishing another Utsav Murti in the temple during the Ganesh Utsav. His son Dinesh has continued the tradition. The utsav idol will be the same as the original idol.

Shadu clay idol

The original idol of Sansthan Ganpati is 2 feet tall and is made from black stone. However, the utsav idol is made from Shadu clay from the past 15 years. The temple trust has become an example for other temples by establishing shadu clay idols every year.