Pune: Before bidding farewell to the elephant-headed God on Sunday, the artists from Rashtriya Kala Academy on Bajirao Road drew rangolis on Laxmi Road with social messages.
This year, there were 350 participants from the academy who drew rangolis on Laxmi Road on the theme of senior citizens’ harassment.
Ganesh Mane, ward head of the academy, said, “We started drawing rangolis from Tilak Statue and ended at Alka Talkies Chowk. The biggest rangoli of 105 feet, based on the theme. We needed 1.5 tonnes of rangoli and 500 kg of colours. We have been participating in this procession from the last 20 years. Last year, the theme was disadvantages of social media.
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Madhavi Mistri, a student of the academy, who came especially from Mumbai to participate in the immersion procession, said, “I live in Mumbai and this is the first year I am participating in rangoli making during the visarjan procession. It feels a pleasure to make rangoli before the first manache Ganapati arrives on Laxmi Road.”
Indira Parmar, another student of the academy, said, “This is the third year that I am participating in making rangoli before the procession begins. We make one rangoli in less than 15 minutes and to make one rangoli, there are more than 10 artists.”
Jaywant Mohane, a senior artist among the young ones, said, “I keep guiding the young artists and also enjoy making the rangolis with these youngsters. I have been making rangolis for this festival from last 10 years and I enjoy doing this.
