Disabled In Davangere Rise Above Religion and Caste To Celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi
Over 100 hearing and speech-impaired devotees united across faiths to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi, overcoming barriers with sign-language support and community participation.
Published : September 3, 2025 at 3:21 PM IST
Davangere: At a mandap in Biralingeshwara temple on PB Road in Davangere, the disabled rose above religion and caste to install an idol of Lord Ganesha and celebrate the Ganesh Chaturthi festival with the larger society.
Friends with hearing and speech disabilities once again joined hands to celebrate the occasion. Every year, more than one hundred members of the Association of the Deaf and Dumb come together to organise this festival. Their effort gets a good response from across the city.
Because of their disability, these organisers are largely dependent on their own pockets for making elaborate arrangements for the festival. Collection of donations is a very difficult task for them because of the communication barriers they face while interacting with the common people.
It is learnt that the expenses for organising the Ganesh Chaturthi festival had come to Rs 60,000 last year. “These expenses are expected to rise to Rs 80,000 to Rs 1 lakh this year,” said a member of the Association.
For the last six years, they have been helped by a lady named Meghana, who helps them communicate with the masses. She stands at the venue communicating with various sections of the population on their behalf.
A disabled person herself, she is well-trained in sign language, and this has been of a lot of help to the organisers of the event. The organisers offered food in the form of prasad to the motorists and others passing by the old Pune-Bengaluru Road.
One of the organisers related, “Davangere is perhaps the only place in the state where the people with disabilities come together to install the Ganesha idol. We celebrate this festival with people from every community, and the Hindus, Muslims and Christians come together to organise and conduct it right from the installation of the idol to worship and distribution of prasad.”
The idol of Lord Vinayaka, which is another name for Lord Ganesha, was immersed on the evening of August 31 in a simple and silent ritual without creating any loud noise or contributing to the pollution levels in any way. There were no fireworks or loud music accompanying the ritual.
Meanwhile, devotees at Sahapur of Belagavi have given a touch from the recent 'Operation Sindoor' carried out by the Indian armed forces after the Pahalgam terror attack to the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. The portraits of Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, who were briefing the country about the developments during the Operation Sindoor, have been placed at the mandap along with others, including prominent freedom fighters. The idol of Lord Ganesha accompanies all these, giving a patriotic flavour to the festival.
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