Ganpati

In the name of the Lord! PALLAVI KHARADE TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2005 08:53:16 PM ] Citibank NRI Offer If Ganesh Ustav heralds business time for idol makers, its also the busiest season for pujaris. With increasing number of Ganesh mandals and households performing Ganesh puja, pujari or gurujis in the city are finding it hard to match the demand. A pujari during this period is performing 10 to 15 pujas in a day. No wonder then they are raking in moolahs. Abhijit Kulkarni, a pujari, agrees that priests are in demand during this festive season. “Professional pujari sometimes perform about 10 to 12 pujas in households during daytime and again at night they perform four to five pujas at mandals.” Kulkarni says that although dankshina varies depending on the host, normally a pujari gets Rs 100 to Rs 500 on an hourly basis for household pujas. In case of Ganesh mandals, the dakshina depends on the size of the mandal. “On an average one gets anything between Rs 1,100 to Rs 1,500,”adds Kulkarni Abhyang Deshpande, another priest, confides that because of good money, many people keep performing pujas as part-time jobs. Suryakant Pathak, another pujari says, “I and my son both perform pujas at various homes and mandals. I also take leaves from office for these 10-days to manage the pujas.”