Chennai woman decks up home with Lord Ganesha, COVID-19 decorations

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], August 22 : As devotees across the country celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a woman decked up her home decorations with Lord Ganesha and coronavirus theme.
Nandini Venkatesh, a former resident of Singapore told ANI that she had come to India to raise her children and started her collection of memorabilia based on the elephant god.

"My children and I started a collection of lots of Ganesh-Ji themed objects. Every year, we host a three-year exhibition to showcase the memorabilia to the people. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we have been able to do so. Instead, we have decorated our house with the theme of both coronavirus and Ganesh Chaturthi," Venkatesh said.
She further added that she had collected several items from her travels across the country.
"Every year, we go to Mumbai to buy our idols. I tell the makers what theme I want and they give it to me accordingly. I have travelled to several other places also to buy idols. This year, however, we are unable to do so. Therefore, we have decided to do our own decorations," she added.

This year, social distancing norms have prevented people from celebrating the festival in the congregation.
According to new guidelines of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued on July 29, cultural and religious functions and other large congregations will continue to remain prohibited.