Rain and heat do not deter Mumbaikars as they throng Ganesh pandals

With coronavirusinduced restrictions out of the way devotees are flocking to Ganesh pandals across Mumbai in large numbers as the festival of the elephantheaded god began two days agoPeople are doing pandalhopping with gusto especially in central Mumbai areas of Lalbaug Parel and Girgaon where some famous Ganesh Mandals or groups install the idolsThe Lalbaugcha Raja Ganpati draws lakhs of people every year from Mumbai as well as the surrounding satellite cities though in the last two years coronavirus played spoilsportThe Mandal which has been celebrating the festival since 1934 had not put up its pandal in the first year of the pandemic while in 2021 entry into the pandal was restrictedAlso readMumbai Kalyan cops swoop down on Shiv Sena splitthemed Ganesh pandalBut this year Lalbaugcha Raja is once again attracting huge crowds which are expected to swell further from the weekend onwardThe pandal this time is modelled on the Ram temple being constructed in AyodhyaScorching heat coupled with humidity and intermittent spells of rain have not deterred devoteesJitesh Kadne an officebearer of Hiramani Super Market Ganpati Mandal told PTI that Lalbaug area has been witnessing more crowds this year after the lifting of COVID19 restrictionsVery few people are wearing masks the majority are enjoying the festival without the fear of the pandemic he saidThere are two queues at the pandal One is Navsachi Rang where devotees are allowed to touch the feet of the idol while the other is Mukh Darshan Rang where one can only have darshan sight from a distancePayal Shah a Matunga resident who visits Lalbaugcha Raja every year said she landed around 7 on Thursday morning to avoid serpentine queues and had darshan of the idol within 20 minutesGanesh Galli Ganpati is another famous pandal in the same areaThis year our pandal theme is the Kashi Vishweshwar temple The Ganesh idol is in the form of Vishwakarma Avatariquest said Kiran Kalekar an officebearer of the Mumbaicha Raja Lalbaug Sarvajanik Ustav Mandal of Ganesh GalliThey have paid special attention to the safety of devotees and 100150 volunteers have been deployed to manage the crowds he said The Mandal has also installed 60 CCTV cameras metal detectors and hired private security guardsChinchpokalis Chintamani Bal Ganesh Mandals Ballaleshwar Rangari Badak Chawls Lambodar Kalachowki Ustav Mandals Mahaganapati and Ganapati Tejukaya buildings Ganesh are other famous pandals in LalbaugLocated near Kings Circle station the Goud Saraswat Brahmin Samaj Ganapati also attracts huge crowds The Mandal is considered among the richest in MumbaiIts Ganesh idol is adorned with gold jewellery and a 22carat gold crownGirgaon area in South Mumbai also attracts pandalhoppers It has famous pandals like Khetwadi Ganraj Akhil Mugbhat Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal Keshavji Naik Chawl Ganpati and Khetwadicha MahaganapatiEstablished way back in 1893 Keshavji Naik Chawl Ganpati is known to be the oldest Ganesh Mandal in Mumbai The Khetwadicha Mahaganpati is famous for its tall idols and this year the Mandal has installed a 35feet idolBala Ahirkar president of Akhil Mugbhat Sarvanajik Ganeshotsav Mandal told PTI that in the 91st year of the Mandal they have installed a 22feet tall Ganapati idol of shadu clay weighing about six tonsThe design of its pandal is inspired by the Hindu temples of CambodiaAndhericha Raja is one of the famous Ganapatis in the western suburbsUday Salian of Azad Nagar Sarvajanik Utsav Samiti which installs this Ganesh said this is the 57th year of the Mandal and this time they have created a replica of the Laxmi Vilas Palace of VadodaraIt is spread over 4000 square feet Art director Dhamesh Shah and his team of 32 people was working for two months to make it Salian saidMilind Kolvankar general secretary of Magathanebased Ekta Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal whose Ganesh is known as iquestUpnagaracha Rajaiquest told PTI that their idol is the tallest in the suburbs and seven to eight lakh devotees visit the pandal every yearBandra West Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal has created a 52feet replica of the famous Pashupatinath temple of Kathmandu This Mandal is famous for recreating prominent temples every yearThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever