Nashik: Three young women from New Zealand on their maiden visit to Nashik were left spellbound by the festivities during the immersion procession.The trio spent over six hours with the devotees in the procession, playing the drums and dancing.Arien Vitney, Laurea and Octavia said that it would be hard for them to forget what they saw on Sunday on the Nashik streets.These young women were learning to play dhol-tasha at the Auckland branch of the Nashik-based ‘Ramnagari Vadya Pathak’.The chief of the dhol group, Ashish Sonawane, said that the trio had come to Nashik to see and experiences how the troupes play the drums on the Ganapati immersion day.“It was simply an enthralling experience for us. The energy and enthusiasm of the devotees, especially the men and women playing the dhol-tasha, was stupendous,” said Arien.According to these foreigners, they were told during their dhol-tasha lessons in Auckland about the kind of celebrations that take place in Maharashtra during Ganpati festival.“But unless one sees it with their own eyes, it is hard to believe how vibrant it is, especially the immersion procession,” added the foreigners.A member of the Pathak, Vanoshree Palod, who accompanied the three women throughout the day, recalled that even Nashikites were thrilled to see three foreigners celebrating the festival with them.“In fact, the trio was also felicitated by some mandals as a goodwill gesture to take part in the immersion celebrations. All three of them were overwhelmed,” Palod said.According to her, the trio visited the ghats to see how the clay idols were being immersed in the water.“They were spellbound to see how the devotees carefully bring down the idols from the vehicles and then carry them to the ghats where they were immersed,” added Palod.

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