The narrow passageways of Sowcarpet — where one street bleeds into another, the aroma of ghee-laden sweets blends with spicy chaat, footpaths and roads blur, homes become an extension of retail outlets, and where conversations simultaneously flow in Tamil, Marwari, Marathi, Gujarati, and Hindi — is a maze that never completely untangles.
Every year, during most festivals, this neighbourhood opens up like a grand stage. Be it selling clay lamps during Deepavali and Karthigai Deepam, stars and lanterns during Christmas and New Year, or a stunning display of clothes during Navaratri. Sowcarpet is an intricate web of culture and society, uniting people in joy and devotion.
This week, for Vinayaga Chaturthi, the neighbourhood once again converged to welcome Bappa. Take a walk from NSC Bose Road to Mulla Sahib Street, and you will come across centres of celebration, and witness a place where friendship, festivity, and faith coincide with the everyday bustle of business and the commotion of shopping.
Ganesha in the gallis
For the past few decades, the Maharashtra Mitra Mandal Trust Ganesh Temple at Hanumantharayan Koil Street has been an abode of festivities come August-September. A week before Vinayaga Chaturthi, the Ganesha idol is transported from a different part of Maharashtra each year. “This year, the idol is from Kolhapur because the sculptors there make attractive idols. The finishing they give is heart-touching and feels like home,” says Shobha Prakash Koli, a devotee and member of the trust.
The trust invites a pandit and a dhol-tasha music band from Mumbai. This year, the priest is from Pandharpur. Every evening, between 5 pm and 7 pm, he sits in front of the community members on a makeshift stage, next to the idols, dressed in a white kurta and topi to conduct a pravachan (sharing devotional stories). “We invite them from Maharashtra so that the people here do not forget their roots and traditions,” adds Shobha. The pravachan is followed by the keerthan between 7 pm and 10 pm. The other events include Geetha sessions from 8 am to noon and 2.30 pm to 5 pm.
The kids also actively participate in the events that lead up to the festival and the five days that the lord will be celebrated in the city. “The kids come for Hari paat and recite 28 agams (scriptures in praise of and practices that navigate the rituals, ceremonies), and worship of Ganesha. We have upheld these customs by bringing Maharashtra to Chennai in the form of these celebrations. Be it Gauri Puja, Navratri, or Chaturthi, traditions are followed,” she notes.
These traditions are vital in uniting people. They bind the community year after year, festival after festival. And for some, the commitment to preserve these runs deep. For 37 years, the Shree Ganesh Mahotsav Mandal has been raising pandals on Veerappan Street. They are one of the first mandals to set up a pandal in Chennai.
Called ‘Sowcarpet ka Raja’, Ganesha here is welcomed with chants of ‘Ganapathi Bappa Morya, Mangal Murti Morya’, roughly translating to ‘O Father Ganesha, you are the auspicious, holy, and the benevolent one’. “We want to make people here experience the 11-day celebrations that happen in Maharashtra,” says Kumar Velu, a member of the Mandal.
Despite their wish, the celebrations are held only for five days. “Due to space constraints, as the idols are placed on the streets, traffic congestion, steering through the bamboo branches used as a base for the pandals, the idols in the city are only kept for 4-5 days,” notes Shobha.
But these five days are filled with events. For this, the preparations begin months in advance. “Usually, in May, we go to Mumbai and finalise the idol’s design,” says Kumar. Once ready, the unfinished idol is sent to Chennai, travelling the length and breadth of Maharashtra and Karnataka in a lorry. “The sculptor covers the idol with transparent and black plastic sheets. A week before the celebrations begin, a painter from Mumbai comes here and paints the idol,” says Kumar, adding that their 10-feet and 1-tonne idol this year has come from Lower Parel, Mumbai.
The idol was unveiled to the devotees on Tuesday night, where a procession covering the four streets surrounding Veerappan Street was held. “The homecoming of Bappa is called agaman, which is more like Diwali celebrations. We take him around with fireworks, music and dance, so that he could bless those who could not come visit him when he is stationed here at the street’s end before going for immersion, which is celebrated like one does Holi,” notes Kumar. The neon green cloth covering the pandal, white and pink garland decoration, and lights set up on the street is the “palace where the lord will bless his devotees.”
Since 2019, the Mandal has been bringing the idol from Maharashtra, which celebrates Ganeshotsav with pomp and show. “The finishing of the idols is better there. We have a few Bengalis and other sculptors who are doing great work in the city, but the idols made in Mumbai leave you in goosebumps,” shares Kumar.
Bazaar to Bappa
Sharing a similar sentiment is Chandrasekhar Varma, a businessman, who has been putting up Ganesha pandals for the last 26 years near Kakada Ramprasad on Mint Street. This year, he has taken inspiration from Lalbaugcha Raja’s look. Donning a rich purple dhoti and a golden shimmering mukut, Lalbaugcha Raja 2025 exudes a gentle yet regal aura. “Mint ka Raja is a copy of Lalbaugcha Raja. We found the sculptor who envisioned Lalbaugcha Raja 2025, flew him down to Gummidipoondi, and made a copy. The sculptor has made 12 more idols and sent them to different districts in the state,” shares Chandrasekar.
He adds that though the setting up of the pandal, decoration, and idol-making is done in less than a month, the permissions take a lot of time. “Firstly, a written document from the house and shop owners is required to erect a pandal. Followed by a fire licence, a corporation licence, and an electric connection are necessary. Earlier, we used to get a connection from the utility pole; these days, we are directed to draw current either from shops or houses, resulting in us paying electricity charges levied on domestic or commercial outlets, which are higher,” he says.
Located on a prime spot in Mint Street, with 300 volunteers, the team distributes 50 kg of boondi every day. Additionally, they distribute 25 kg of channa-based and rice-based offerings on alternate days.
On the parallel Narayani Mudali Street, the Narayani Mudali Navyuk Mandal is organising an annadhanam for 500 individuals on August 30. “Any celebration needn’t only be focused on remembering the greatness of the gods. In fact, it should be about how we are choosing to celebrate the said greatness. And that is by giving back to society and uplifting everyone,” says Pravin Kumar, a member.
The Mandal includes all the businessmen on that street to “bring in good fortune to mankind.” The idol is made in Guindy and positioned in the pandal, which, besides annadhanam, will conduct a walking procession to Baba Ramdev Temple, George Town, offer chappan bhog (56 varieties of food/offering to god), and distribute gifts to kids in the neighbourhood. The Mandal also has a set waste management system. “We make sure not to serve in plastics, and the garbage is disposed of properly in large polythene bags. The volunteers will ensure that,” he says. Before the visarjan (immersion), the mandal will serve breakfast to the public.
On Wednesday morning, while kozhukattais were steaming in several households in the city, devotees milled the streets of Sowcarpet, carrying their faith through its winding lanes, chanting bhajans, and revelling in devotion.