Lalbaugcha Raja Ganeshostsav Mandal is all set to celebrate the festival the traditional way this year after the Covid-19 pandemic threw a spanner in their works last year. Although muted – a shorter idol, no kilometre-long queues of devotees – the organisers aim to stop at nothing to make the celebrations as grand as the previous years. But, they are faced with a mammoth task of managing crowds that will throng to Mumbai’s most iconic and most revered ganpati pandal despite a strict BMC warning in place.
The Mumbai civic body on Tuesday issued fresh guidelines for the Ganpati festival beginning Friday. In the wake of a rise in the number of new coronavirus infections and fear of a third wave, the BMC has banned all kinds of physical darshan for devotees at public Ganpati pandals and appealed to citizens to celebrate the festival with simplicity.
The BMC has also imposed restrictions on the number of participants in processions during the celebrations. 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 (BMC) said in the guidelines.
“All devotees should wear masks and observe social distancing. Also, the 10 participants should have taken both the doses of Covid-19 vaccine and completed 15 days after taking the second dose,” the guidelines said.
The 11-day festival will commence on September 10. The Lalbaugcha Raja organisers have installed a four-feet-tall idol of Lord Ganesha in keeping with the government guidelines instead of their trademark 15-feet-tall idol. Their theme is “Majha Ganeshotsav, Majhi Javabdari” (my Ganeshotsav, my responsibility) this year.
Each year, the pandal sees millions of devotees, including celebrities. Footfalls go up to 80,000 to 1 lakh people in one single day during Ganeshotsav – the number increases exponentially on weekends.
Sudhir Salve, Secretary, LalBaughCha Raja spoke to CNN-News18 and elaborated their plan for this year.
“Looking at the pandemic situation last year, we had only held health camps during Ganeshotsav. This year, we have a 4-feet idol ready. On September 10, we will do the pranprathistha puja and darshans will begin. We have made arrangements for online darshan through various online platforms – so devotees can do the darshan sitting at home.”
The organisers are urging people to opt for online darshans given the threat of Covid-19, and the kind of disaster a crowd of devotees in the narrow bylanes of Lalbaug will spell for the pandemic and the authorities.
The organisers say that they had made arrangements for offline darshan for fully-vaccinated devotees as per the circular of rule issued on June 29, but the most recent guidelines have thrown a spanner in their works.
“The circular issued on June 29 by the police suggested offline darshan while maintaining Covid protocols so we have made arrangements for that also. However, now we hear there are new guidelines so we will cooperate with the government, BMC and the police and go ahead as per their guidance,” said Salve.
On being prodded further about crowd control, he said: “If that’s possible and if the municipal body, police and government allow us and support it, then we can, of course, allow (offline darshan) keeping all Covid-related SOPs in adherence.”
Lalbaugcha Raja’s immersion is an event on its own where lakhs accompany the idol to the Chowpatty seafront to bid adieu to Lord Ganesha. The procession begins from Lalbaug on the visarjan day and takes a long route through Nagpada, Byculla, Kumbharwada, CP Tank, Opera House, ending its journey at Girgaum Chowpatty the next morning.
“We are glad we have been granted permission for immersion at Girgaum Chowpatty. We won’t be allowed till the end, but we can go there. Whatever the police and other authorities decide on how to manage crowds, we will cooperate with them. Till now, no final decision on whether the route of immersion procession will be the same or it will change – but whatever authorities say we will follow,” he added.
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