The majestic lalbaugcha Raja (King of lalbaug), installed inside the replica of the famous ancient temple of Jejuri in Pune district, the idol of ‘Andhericha Raja’ seated amidst a replica of splendorous Mysore Palace and the GSB Seva Ganesh Mandal’s gold-studded and heavily insured idol at King’s Circle, drew very huge crowds, as Mumbaikars ushered in the 10-day Ganesh festivities on Friday, amidst tight security and CCTV surveillance.
As Mumbaikars brought more than 2,00,000 small and medium-sized Ganpati idols to their homes and Sarvajanik Mandals installed 12,000-odd huge idols across the city, the metropolis reverberated to the beating of drums, cymbals, chants of Ganpati Bappa Morya and Sukh-karta Dukh-harta bhajan, even as the devotees accompanying the idols to their homes and localities danced in revelry.
As lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal (lRSGM) entered the 87th year of its formation, the organisers installed 22-foot idol of the elephant-headed God inside the replica of the Jejuri Khandoba temple. The Ganesh Idol here adorns a 5 kg gold necklace.
like every year, lalbaugcha Raja idol –installed at Ganesh Galli at lalbaug in South-Central Mumbai, has been drawing thousands of devotes from various parts of the city and neighbouring areas. The idol installed here is visited by over 10 lakh devotees during the 10-day festivities.
Equally popular is the Ganesh idol installed at the lalbaug Sarvajanik Utsasv Mandal, Ganesh Galli, lalbaug in South-Central Mumbai. The highlight of this year’s festivities this year is that the design of the installed idol has been patented by the Mandal.
Decorated with golden ornaments and studded with precious stones collectively worth Rs22 crore, the Ganesh installed by the GSB Seva Ganesh Mandal at King’s Circle in north-central Mumbai is the costliest idol in the city. This year’s attraction of the idol here is the “Vaijantimala”, a 14-foot garland made in Karnataka using 2.5 kg of gold and 12 kilograms of silver.
This year, the GSB Mandal has taken an insurance cover for a whopping Rs259 crore. The biggest component of the insurance package that lasts for 15 days is the cover for personal accident component that includes visitors, volunteers, electricians and other workers, at over Rs10 lakh per person.
As one of the anti-terror initiatives, the city police have announced that they reward alert citizens who spot unattended, suspicious objects in the vicinity of Ganesh pandals across the city. Under the new initiative known as ‘Mumbai Ke liye 1 Minute’ drive being implemented under in association with a leading bank, the police plan to award alert citizens with gold coins.
While lalbaugcha Raja, next-door Mumbaicha Raja, the GSB Seva Ganesh Mandal’s gold-studded Ganesh idol and Tulsiwadi’s of the elephant-headed God drew huge crowds on the first day, sizeable queues were also witnessed at various other Ganesh mandals in the city including the ones installed by Tejukaya Mandal at lalbaug, GSB Sarvajanik Ganeshutsav Samiti, Wadala, Azad Nagar Sarvajanik Utsav Samitee at Andheri and Sahyadri Krida Mandal, Tilak Nagar-Chembur. The Sahyadri Krida Mandal has, this time around, erected the Ganesh inside a replica of Kashi Vishwanath temple.
Though they have not received any specific intelligence information about terror threats during the festival days, the city police are not taking any chances. They have set up a special 50-member team of personnel to monitor round the clock from the traffic control the footage from 218 CCTV cameras installed at the various strategic places across the metropolis.
As one of the anti-terror initiatives, the city police have announced that they reward alert citizens who spot unattended, suspicious objects in the vicinity of Ganesh pandals across the city. Under the new initiative known as ‘Mumbai Ke liye 1 Minute’ drive being implemented under in association with a leading bank, the police plan to award alert citizens with gold coins.