Lalbaugcha Raja is one of the oldest and the most popular mandals in the metropolis attracting around one crore devotees including filmstars and politicians following which tight arrangements have been made.
The Lalbaugcha Raja Mandal has been installing the Ganpati idol at its pandal in Central Mumbai since 1934. Ganesh Chaturthi also known as Vinayak Chaturthi, is a ten-day festival. The Hindu festival of Ganesh Chaturthi is dedicated to the Lord of new beginnings, Ganesha.
Thousands of people are expected to visit pandals (public arenas where celebrations are helmed by organising groups called mandals) for 10 days starting from Ganesh Chaturthi, which falls on August 31. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials on Saturday said the civic body had received 3,500 applications for erection of public pandals for Ganpati, a sizable increase from the 2,400 permission given last year. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 had forced the civic body to impose several restrictions on the festivities, including a height cap for idols at four feet and two feet for 'sarvajanik' (public) and households respectively.
Other restrictions comprised cap on visitor numbers, installing pandemic-curbing items like sanitizers as well as enforcing mask and social distancing norms. While the height restriction for idols has been removed, BMC officials said households have been requested to cap it at two feet. Incidentally, the BMC this year has also allowed idols made from Plaster of Paris (PoP), usually restricted for being harmful to the environment, as a special case. The lack of restrictions has already brought a buzz in areas like Fort, Lalbaug, Andheri, Chembur, Kurla, where extensive lighting and decorations are being installed at pandals.
*with inputs from agencies
