Ganesh Chaturthi 2023: On Friday, the Lalbaugcha Raja Ganesh Mandal, which places Mumbai’s biggest and most famous Ganpati idol, presented the first look of the idol for Lord Ganesh worshippers. The 10-day celebration will be held this year from September 19 through September 28.
Ganesh Chaturthi, a ten-day event that begins on the 4th day of the Hindu lunisolar calendar month ‘Bhadrapada,’ will take place this year on September 19. This fortunate ten-day celebration begins with ‘Chaturthi’ and concludes with ‘Anantha Chaturdashi’.
The festival is also referred to as ‘Vinayak Chaturthi’ as well as ‘Vinayak Chavithi’. The event honours Ganesha as the “God of New Beginnings,” “Remover of Obstacles,” and “God of Wisdom and Intelligence.”
It is widely celebrated in Mumbai, along with other parts of Maharashtra, with lakhs of worshippers gathering on mandals to look for Lord Ganesh’s grace. During the festival, devotees carry Lord Ganesh idols to their houses, conduct fasts, create delectable foods, and visit pandals.
During the 10-day celebrations, the pandals put together by multiple mandals in Mumbai as well as other parts of the state draw thousands of worshippers.
Lalbaugcha Raja is considered to be one of the earliest and most renowned mandals in the city, attracting approximately one crore devotees, especially film stars as well as politicians, for whom elaborate preparations have been made.
Since 1934, the Lalbaugcha Raja Mandal has regularly placed the Ganpati idol at their pandal in central Mumbai. Ganesh Chaturthi, also referred to as Vinayak Chaturthi, is a ten-day event celebrated in India.
The Hindu celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi honours Ganesha, the Lord of New Beginnings.
Lord Ganesha is considered sacred with tremendous passion during the annual Ganesh Chaturthi Puja, which includes all sixteen rites termed the Shodashopachara Puja. Puranik mantras are chanted in conjunction with these rites. These sixteen stages include a variety of characteristics of worship.
Idol producers in the city will be busy around the clock in preparation for the 10-day mega festival, which kicks off on September 19. On the other hand, Mumbaikars are particular about their ‘Bappa’. While some people buy Ganesha idols from exactly the same store for more than ten years, others choose to have their Ganesha created to their specifications.
Sunil Panchal, who manages an idol store in downtown Mumbai’s Lalbaug neighbourhood, claims to manufacture idols for three hundred customers each year.
“I have customers who return to me year after year.” Some people desire their hero to be modelled after Lalbaugcha Raja, Dagdusheth Ganpati, or Titwala’s ‘baithak’ style. “These three types of idols are the most popular,” Panchal said. “There are people who come on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi or just a day before the festival to book idols, and we have a stock saved for them as well,” he added.
Rajesh Peddi, on the other hand, has been producing idols at his Lalbagh shop for the past ten years and has regular consumers who have been consistently coming to buy from him for a period of time exceeding five years.
“I have fixed customers; some take the same model of Bappa home, like Lalbaghcha Raja, every year, while others want variety,” he explained.
Lalbaugcha Raja’s official account released a few photographs of Lord Ganesha’s idol on X and other official social media handles.
Lalbaugcha Raja’s history is well known, as is the popular Ganesh Idol of Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal, which is located at Putlabai Chawl, a worship centre created in 1934.