The mandal will not install the Ganesh idol this year, Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal's secretary Sudhir Salvi told reporters. It will organise blood and plasma donation camps and provide financial assistance to the families of policemen who died of COVID-19, he said.
One of the biggest festivals in the country, Ganeshotsav attracts visitors from across the country to see the offerings of some of the most creative and famous Ganesh pandals.
Mumbai celebrated Ganeshotsav under the shadow of swine flu and in the aftermath of the terror attacks.
It is Mumbai's favourite festival and is celebrated each year with fervour and frenzy. But when the city welcomes "Ganpati Bappa" this Friday, the celebrations will be low key. With a cap on the size of idols, ban on processions and restrictions on devotees visiting pandals, celebrations are toned down for the second year in a row. Festival budgets have shrunk and as a result, corporate sponsorships have dried out.
Rediff.com's Satish Bodas goes pandal hopping and discovers some famous and biggest ones.
The guidelines issued by the government also make it mandatory for Ganesh Utsav mandals to take permission from local authorities.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his cabinet colleagues Pankaja Munde and Vinod Tawde, Union minister Nitin Gadkari, state minister Sadabhau Khot, former Union Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi were prominent among those who installed Ganpati idols at their homes.
For bringing the idols of the deity and during their immersion, there will not be more than 10 people in the processions of public mandals and not more than five for the household Ganpatis, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation in the guidelines issued on Tuesday.
Mumbai's famous organiser in Ganesh Galli on Tuesday decided to bring in a four-feet idol instead of a larger than life, 22-feet idol.
The 10-day Ganesh festival began on Saturday under the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, with devotees restricting celebrations to their homes and using online platforms to get 'darshan' of the Lord at temples, amid strict COVID-19 restrictions imposed by governments.
You can e-mail your pictures to getahead@rediff.co.in (My Lord Ganesha Pix) with your name, location, details about your Lord Ganesha and what this festival means to you. We will publish the best entries right here on Rediff.com.
You can e-mail your pictures to getahead@rediff.co.in (My Lord Ganesha Pix) with your name, location, details about your Lord Ganesha and what this festival means to you. We will publish the best entries right here on Rediff.com.
Rediff readers tell us how they are celebrating Ganeshotsav this year.
Rediff readers tell us how they are celebrating Ganeshotsav.
As the veil lifts across big and small mandals during Ganeshotsav, pandal-hoppers are expected to throng certain venues, partly owing to their lavish themes or simply their wish-fulfilment quotient.
The Kesari Ganesh Utsav marks the festival the way Lokmanya Tilak had envisioned it. Here's a peek into celebrations at this historic location in a feature first published in 2000 on Rediff.com.
Rediff readers tell us how they are celebrating Ganeshotsav this year.
Rediff readers tell us how they are celebrating Ganeshotsav this year.
Rediff readers tell us how they are celebrating Ganeshotsav with friends and family.
Rediff .com brings you the five most visited Ganesh mandals in Pune.
Covid restrictions notwithstanding, the city's creative spirit reflects in the pandal created by the Bandra West Sarvajanik Ganesh Mandal.
For the second straight year, the pandemic cast a long shadow on festivities with the Maharashtra government placing a slew of restrictions to avoid gathering and processions.
The Ganpati from the Lalbaug pandal being taken for immersion
One of the biggest festivals in the country, Ganeshotsav attracts visitors from across the country to see the offerings of some of the most creative and famous Ganesh pandals. We bring you the richest, biggest and famous Ganesh pandals from Mumbai. Photographs by Uttam Ghosh
The 10-day-long annual Ganesh Chaturthi festival began on a low-key note on Friday with several state governments prohibiting public celebrations due to the Covid pandemic and devotees taking the virtual route to pay obeisance and join the festivities.
As the Ganeshotsav festivities come to a close on Monday, the city of Hyderabad is also preparing to bid adieu to the country's tallest Lord Ganesha idol.
As India all set to welcome Ganapati Bappa, we bring you snapshots of the many forms of the elephant-headed deity.
The mood was full of gaiety and devotion, with chants of 'Ganpati Bappa Morya' reverberating across Maharashtra.
A sneak peek into how residents of the Keshavji Naik Chawl in Girgaum, Mumbai, welcome Lord Ganesha.
'Errant bikers wearing branded t-shirts sponsored by local political parties raced through traffic, almost taking our breath away. Young kids stood at the edge of the roads, clicking selfies amid playing 'catch up' with their buddies, least bothered about the festival or its relevance.'
After 10 days of joy and celebrations, amidst much security Mumbaikars said goodbye to its favourite Lord Ganesha.
We bring you glimpses from one of Mumbai's oldest pandals, Mumbaicha Raja.
