Ganesh Chaturthi: Devotees offer prayers at Lalbaugcha Raja in Mumbai

First look of Lalbaugcha Raja. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

The devotees in Mumbai are imbued with devotion as the auspicious festival of Ganesh Chaturthi continues and many devotees are visiting the Lalbaugcha Raja for 'darshan' of Lord Ganesh and offer prayers to the 'Vighnharta'.

Lalbaugcha Raja's first look was unveiled earlier on Friday evening, days ahead of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.

Ganesh Chaturthi is a ten-day festival that starts on the fourth day of the Hindu lunisolar calendar month 'Bhadrapada' and this year the festival commenced on September 19. This auspicious ten-day festival starts with 'Chaturthi' and ends on 'Anantha Chaturdashi'.

It is celebrated with much fanfare in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra with lakhs of devotees converging into mandals to seek blessing from Lord Ganesh.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai civic body on Thursday said that more than 66,700 Ganesh idols were immersed in various water bodies in Mumbai till Thursday morning. The immersion of idols has gone smoothly so far without any untoward incident, they said.

According to officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), a total of 66,785 "one-and-a-half-day" Ganapati idols were immersed in the sea and other water bodies, including artificial ponds, till 6 am on Thursday.

The idols were taken out and immersed amid chants of "Ganapati Bappa Morya", the beating of drums, music and dance.

Also read: Ganesh Chaturthi: Two drown, one missing during idol immersion in Thane

Of the immersion figures so far, BMC officials said, 66,435 were household Ganapati idols, while 350 were "sarvajanik", or community, idols.

They said 27,736 idols were immersed in artificial ponds, set up to avoid pollution of natural water bodies, across the city. Of these, 27,564 were household Ganapati idols and the rest 'sarvajanik'.

"No untoward incident was reported anywhere during the immersion," the BMC claimed.

The BMC has earmarked 69 natural water bodies, including stretches off the coast, and created 191 artificial ponds for immersion this year.

Meanwhile, two persons drowned and another went missing in two incidents during immersion of Ganesh idols in Wada taluka of Maharashtra's Thane district, the police said on Thursday.

According to the police, Jagat Narayan Mourya (38) and Suraj Prajapati (25) drowned during idol immersion in a lake at Konsai village on Wednesday night. (With inputs from agencies)