
117-foot clay Ganesh idol to be set up at Gajuwaka in Visakhapatnam
The Hindu
Vizag's Lanka Grounds to host 117-ft clay Ganesh idol, crafted by renowned Telangana-based 'Matti Manishi' Kothakonda Nagesh.
After creating a record by setting up 89-foot clay Ganesh idol last year in Lanka Grounds in Gajuwaka, the organising committee is gearing up to install a 117-foot clay Ganesh idol, during Vinayaka Chaviti. The pandal organisers – ‘SV Entertainments’ are leaving no stone unturned to make the Ganesh idol attractive, for which they have roped in Telangana based renowned clay idol craftsman ‘Kothakonda Nagesh’. Almost 95% of the idol work has been completed.
Mr. K. Ganesh from SV Entertainments said that last year they had roped in Khairatabad Ganesh idol maker Chinnaswamy Rajendran, this year, they are happy to associate with Kothakonda Nagesh, who is very well known as ‘Matti Manishi’ in Telangana.
Mr. Ganesh said that a team of about 26 artisans from West Bengal have been working for making the idol for the last two months. He said that another 34 persons have been working for decoration and elevation of the idol.
This year, the organisers are going for the ‘Sri Anantha Panchamukha Maha Ganapati’ rupam for the idol, while last year it was ‘Kailasa Viswaroopa Maha Ganapati’.
To make the pandal more attractive, to the left side, the pandal organisers are installing 35-foot ‘Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy’ statue. To another side, a six-foot Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy statue is being installed.
Last year, during the end of Vinayaka Chaviti, there were a few issues with the idol, as some experts felt that a part of the idol got tilted.

Improvement of passenger amenities at stations, introduction of Vande Bharat express, new halts for express trains and the need for operation of additional train services were among the demands raised at the Divisional Railway Users’ Consultative Committee (DRUCC) meeting organised by the Tiruchi Railway Division here on Thursday.