Lord Ganesha was welcomed into their homes with much joy and ceremony by people of Mumbai, coastal Konkan and most of Maharashtra on Tuesday. The festival returned this year with its pre-pandemic glory, after two years of muted celebrations.
Amid chants of “Ganpati Bappa Morya”, people were seen bringing in Ganpati idols into their homes, housing societies and sarvajanik (public) mandals.
The 10-day Ganeshutsav starts on Wednesday—on Ganesh Chaturthi—and ends on September 9, coinciding with Anant Chaturdashi, an auspicious day, according to Hindu calendar.
In 2020 and 2021, the Ganpati parva was a low-key affair because of the lockdown and subsequent Covid-19 pandemic-related restrictions.
This year, the Maharashtra government removed restrictions on the height of the idols—paving way for the celebrations to be grand again.
Ganeshutsav is the biggest festival of Maharashtra, with the golden triangle of Mumbai Metropolitan Region–Pune–Nashik being the epicentre of the celebrations.
In Mumbai, the origin of the festival is from Keshavji Nayak Chawl at Girgaum, where the first ‘sarvajanik’ Ganeshutsav was held in 1893. It was done to garner support for India’s freedom struggle.
This year, the state capital donned a festive look with the most famous idols sprucing up the surrounding region, including Lalbaugcha Raja at Lalbaug. Ganesh Gully, Lalbaug, Tejukaya Mandal, Lalbaug, GSB Seva Mandal, Matunga-Kings’ Circle, GSB Sarvajanik Ganeshutsav Samiti, Wadala, Kethwadi, 11th Lane, Kethwadi, 12th Lane, Sahyadri Mandal, Tilak Nagar-Chembur, Shri BalGopal GaneshUtsav Mandal, Marine Lines, Fort Vibhag Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal, Fort, Andheri-cha-Raja or the Azad Nagar Sarvajanik Utsav Samitee at Andheri—all donned a festive look in anticipation of the celebration on Ganesh Chaturthi on August 31.