Cultural Beliefs and Religious Aspects
Akola is known as cotton city as it is the largest cotton producing district in India. Agriculture is one of the sector through which they make their income, where as production of pulses, oil and textiles are the other source of the income. IT and computer sectors also occupy major income proportions of the city. As cotton is vigorously produced in Akola, a large amount of population wears cotton clothes. Majority of the women in this city are noticed, draped in saris and suits, while men keep it western and wear trousers and shirts for official purpose. Teens and college going students sport casuals such as denims and cotton tees’.The majority of the population in Akola speaks Marathi as it is their mother tongue apart from Hindi, Urdu and English. As people give utmost importance to their mother tongue, they established Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, which promotes Marathi literature. The committee meetings are held at least twice annually.
This city is flooded with religious and holy places such as temples, mosques and churches. It is absolute that school going children must be very excited with their holidays during festival times as the calendar is filled with plenty of festival dates. For instance, the famous festival celebrated in the city are Diwali, Holi, Rakhi, Buddha Purnima, Bakar Id and Ganesh Chaturthi.
Though there is diversity in the religion people come together and celebrate the festivals, especially Diwali, Holi and Ganesh Chaturthi. During Ganesh Chaturthi festival, devotees offer prayers to lord Ganesha and on the last day, a large statue of lord Ganesha is immersed in water. The pre checks happen to make sure that the statue is made of eco-friendly materials to avoid water contamination. Ganpati Arjun Samaj Ganesh Utsav Mandal is the special committee in Akola which organizes the visarjan while the utsav passes through Tilak Road and so on and large sums of people adds up as the rally proceeds. The rally involves colors and flowers, as well the devotees they dance on the beat of the dhol and chanting “Ganpati bappa moraya” throughout their way.
