Ponda: As dusk settled over Adpai, 19 family Ganesha idols glided into Zuari River aboard decorated canoes, bringing alive the village’s centuries-old ‘Kutumb’ immersion tradition on the fifth day of Ganesh Chaturthi.Thousands gathered to witness the spectacle, rooted not in public pandals but in ancestral joint families, or ‘kutumbs’. Members who have moved across India and abroad return to their ancestral homes for the five-day celebration.The afternoon began with 19 families setting out in processions, each following its own colour scheme and dress code. Traditional clay Ganesha idols were placed on specially crafted moving floats, accompanied by artistic tableaus conceived by family members and depicting themes from Hindu mythology.Soshe Bhatkar Kutumb, belonging to the family of Union minister Shripad Naik, presented ‘Rudra Tandav’, while Borkar Kutumb depicted Ganesha playing the mridanga. Shivamba family portrayed Brahmanand Swami of Tapobhoomi, Kundaim, and Khumne Kutumb featured Akkalkot Swamiji.“The ‘kutumb’ or joint family celebrations see clan members from all over congregating at their ancestral home for five days,” said Prashant Naik, a youth from Borkar Kutumb.Amid drums, cymbals and chants of “Ganpati Bappa Morya”, the processions converged at the historic Datta Mandap for a final joint prayer. The idols were then carried to the river in traditional canoes and immersed simultaneously, preserving one of Adpai’s most distinctive expressions of family, faith and heritage.
