Pune:Students and staff of Azam Campus, a Muslim educational institute in Pune, have come forward to show solidarity against terrorism by promising to participate in the mass recital of Atharavasheersha during Ganeshotsav.

The Atharvasheersha recitation is a fascinating yearly spectacle when over 15,000 women recite Sanskrit prayers on the occasion of Ganeshotsav.

This extraordinary event takes place on the auspicious occasion of Rishi Panchami on the second day of Ganeshotsav when at least 11,000 married women dressed in traditional finery gather on a Pune street off Laxmi Road and chant Sanskrit prayers invoking Lord Ganesha.

The Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Sarvajanik Ganpati Trust has cancelled the event this year due to heightened threat perceptions from terrorism. A prominent Muslim and educationist PA Inamdar has urged that the tradition of the recital before the Dagdusheth Ganapati idol "should not be discontinued this year at any cost".

Inamdar is president of the Maharashtra Cosmopolitan and Education Society (MCES), which runs the Azam Campus and has over 27 educational institutions with more than 15,000 students under its care. Many students from the MCES regularly top state board exams in various streams.

"Atharvasheersha prayer is an important part of Punes culture and if it does not take place it will send a wrong message to society that people are fearing terrorists. The aarti should be conducted at the same place and on the same day," he said.
Source : DNA