MUMBAI, INDIA, September 7, 2005: Mumbai and Konkan are facing a shortage of pandits with thousands of pujas everywhere. “Now we have to buy cassettes. We have to be careful that the cassettes we buy are keeping up with the correct religious tradition,” said Raju Bhagwat, Resident, Chiplun. For the last 20 years during Ganeshotsav, Pandit Padmanabh has been conducting Ganesh pujas from 4:00 am (IST) at people’s homes. During festival time his work goes on till late evening. On one hand the population of the city is increasing while on the other the younger generation is reluctant to take traditional vocations like being a pujari. “The population has increased but the number of priests has not kept up. I have cleared my tenth standard and have gone into the family business but I’m still not as good as my father was,” said Pandit Padmanabh. But for devotees be it a puja through a tape recorder or a pandit, their enthusiasm and devotion remains undiminished.
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