The Lalbaugcha Raja from 2019. FileIt is after two years that devotees of Lalbaugcha Raja will get a chance to touch the feet of Bappa and keep a Navas (vow), said Santosh Kambli, who along with his 81-year-old father Ratnakar Madhusudan Kambli has been sculpting the 14-ft Ganesh idol for decades for the Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal.
For the last two years, the general public, owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, were not allowed to visit the pandal by the government. In 2020, for the first time in its history, the Lalbaughca Raja did not have an idol and in 2021, the mandal made a four-ft idol in place of its usual 14-ft idols.
Lalbaugcha Raja, one of the oldest and popular Ganpati mandals in Mumbai – established in 1934 – witnesses footfall of lakhs daily during the 10-day Ganpati festival, which begins next Wednesday this year.
This time, the mandal is preparing to welcome its devotees with a glimpse of the under-construction Ram temple in Ayodhya. “We want to give the devotees a feeling of entering the Ram temple. As I am involved in the art work around the temple, I have an idea of how the temple will look. It’s our way to portray that Bappa’s blessings are with the new temple,” said Nitin Chandrakant Desai, who has been the art director for Lalbaugcha Raja mandal for over a decade.
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On Thursday, Lalbaug in central Mumbai was bustling with people, shopping for dry fruits, sweets, flowers, jewelry, clothes and decorative materials, giving a much needed boost to local traders.
Tejas Phalke, who runs a sweet and snacks shop near the mandal, said, “I am very happy to see things going back to normal. I can see a lot of enthusiasm among people. Our business, too, has received a big boost.”
Due to the heavy footfall of people during the festival, Lalbaug witnesses the heaviest police deployment in the city. “All security and fire safety measures have been taken. Joint CP (Law & Order) Vishwas Nangre Patil visited our mandal today. Our 5,000 volunteers will help to manage the crowd this year,” said Sudhir Salvi, secretary of the mandal.
He added that devotees can also go for online darshan on the mandal’s website and buy prasad online.
Salvi said the donations received by the mandal is used for social activities. “Previously, we donated Rs 1 lakh each to families of the 111 police personnel who lost their lives during the pandemic and another Rs 2 lakh to the families of the 22 fallen heroes of the Army who were killed in the clash with Chinese troops in Galwan valley.” The mandal also runs a 24-bed free dialysis centre in the city.