Grand Procession In Pune To Welcome The New Year, ‘Gramgudhi’ Installation At Shri Tambdi Jogeshwari Temple
Grand Procession In Pune To Welcome The New Year, ‘Gramgudhi’ Installation At Shri Tambdi Jogeshwari Temple
Pune will celebrate the Hindu New Year with a grand procession on Sunday, March 30, organized by the Hindu Navvarsha Swagat Samiti. The procession will start at 8:30 AM from the Lokmanya Tilak statue at Mahatma Phule Mandai. Thousands of Pune residents, dressed in traditional attire, will participate. A ‘Gramgudhi’ will be installed near the Shri Tambdi Jogeshwari Temple, according to committee organizers Raghavendra Mankar and Ashwin Dewlankar.
The procession will follow the route from Lokmanya Tilak statue to Tulshibaug Ram Mandir, Shanipar, Limbaraj Maharaj Chowk, and Appa Balwant Chowk before concluding at Shri Tambdi Jogeshwari Temple. The event will feature dignitaries from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and notable women from various fields, who will perform the ceremonial installation of the Gudi.
To mark the 300th birth anniversary of Ahilyabai Holkar, a special chariot paying tribute to her legacy will be part of the procession. Other attractions include devotional music groups, a thematic chariot raising awareness about water conservation, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s chariot, a Vande Mataram-themed chariot commemorating 150 years of the poem, and a Prabhu Shri Ram chariot. Additionally, traditional Dhol-Tasha teams, conch-blowing groups, marching bands, martial arts demonstrations, and performances by Veeracharm teams will add grandeur to the event. The Somvanshi Kshatriya Kasar Shri Kalikadevi Sansthan and the Marathi Classical Language Chariot will also be featured, as confirmed by the organizers.
Participants will dress as historical and spiritual figures, symbolizing India’s freedom struggle. Citizens are encouraged to wear saffron caps or turbans and carry saffron flags to celebrate the occasion.
Cultural Artists’ Gudi Installation
Meanwhile, on Sunday, March 30, the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Natya Parishad’s Kothrud branch will install a ‘Cultural Artists’ Gudi’ at Yashwantrao Chavan Natyagruha at 10 AM. As part of the Marathi New Year and the theater’s silver jubilee celebrations, actors Vandana Gupte and Sankarshan Karhade from the play Kutumb Kirtan will perform the Gudi Puja. Former municipal corporator Prithviraj Sutar will also be present, as announced by Natya Parishad’s Kothrud branch president, Sunil Mahajan.
