Bengaluru: Ganesh idols dressed as healthcare workers to express gratitude

Idol makers in Karnataka are paying tributes to healthcare workers this year for their thankless service at the frontline battling the deadly coronavirus pandemic. Idol makers are giving looks of doctors to statues of Lord Ganesha ahead of the auspicious Ganesh Chaturthi festival. News agency ANI shared pictures of such statues being made in Bengaluru, where, in one of the images Lord Ganesha, dressed up as a doctor with his pet rat as a nurse, can be seen treating a patient lying in the intensive care unit. In another picture, doctors can be seen pulling an unconscious man on a stretcher, which appears to be a COVID-19 patient as the man is in a hazmat suit. 

Read: COVID-19: Livelihood Of Ganesh Festival-linked People In Peril

"We are facing COVID. We have to tell people to pray to Lord Ganesh for the betterment of the situation throughout the world," an idol maker named Shridhar said.

The importance of healthcare professionals has been realised amid the current crisis, not just in India but all over the world. Carers have been relentlessly fighting the disease for the past seven-eight months with many of them sacrificing their lives at the frontlines. This year ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi, idol makers deciding to dress gods as doctors and nurses is a befitting tribute to healthcare workers for their immense service. 

Read: Raipur Administration Issues Guidelines For Ganesh Festival

Ganesh Chaturthi

Ganesh Chaturthi is a major Hindu festival celebrated throughout India, especially in the state of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Gujarat. This year, the festival will be celebrated on August 22. Usually celebrated with processions and large gatherings, this year the festival marked with COVID-19 pandemic might have to be toned down due to the risk of mass transmission. 

Read: Ganesh Chaturthi 2020: BMC Promotes Low-key Festivities, Urges For 'one Ward-one Ganpati'

Read: BMC Restricts Gathering For Home Installation Of Ganesh Idols

(With inputs from ANI)