Mumbai welcomes Lord Ganesha amid coronavirus pandemic, rain

People of Mumbai and the coastal Konkan coast and elsewhere in Maharashtra on Friday welcomed Lord Ganesha to their homes amid the shadow of Covid-19 pandemic and heavy rains.

This time, the celebrations are going to be a low-key affair as the usual extravaganza is missing in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic that is sweeping across India.

Amid chants of ‘Ganpati Bappa Morya’, people welcomed Lord Ganesha to their homes, housing societies and complexes and sarvajanik mandals.

The usual thrill was missing because of the climate and norms of physical distancing and health concerns.

On Saturday morning on the auspicious occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi, the ‘sthaapna’ pooja will be performed followed by traditional aartis to mark the birthday of Lord Ganesha, the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.

Sunday will mark the one-and-a-half-day of immersion when the majority of the idols installed at households would be immersed.

Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed-pot-bellied God of wisdom, brings in prosperity and good fortune. Ganapati stands as a symbol of knowledge, as the lord of the lords as ‘Ganadhipati’ as the remover of obstacles 'Vighnaharta'.

Ganesh Utsav is the biggest festival of Maharashtra – with the golden triangle of Mumbai Metropolitan Region-Pune-Nashik being the epicentre of the celebrations.

The Maharashtra government has restricted the height of idols to 2 feet for household and 4 feet for public mandals. Otherwise, some of the idols of Lord Ganesha exceed the height of 20-feet plus.

“Mumbai, Palghar, Thane and Raigad districts are expected to experience heavy rainfall in the next 24 hours,” said KS Hosalikar, the deputy director-general of meteorology, IMD.

Several of the Ganesh mandals have decided to run health campaigns, organized blood and plasma donation in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to figures collected from the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and BrihanMumbai Sarvajanik Ganeshutsav Samanway Samiti (BSGSS), the apex body of Ganesh mandals, several public celebrations have been cancelled.

“There are various issues….health, hygiene, physical distancing. People have suffered pay cuts, companies have incurred losses,” BSGSS president Naresh Dahibhavbkar said.