Rajashri Venkatesh
Ganesh Chaturthi is one of the most celebrated festivals in Mumbai. The grandeur with which this festival is celebrated is worth seeing! Every nukkad, every galli, every mandal, every society has their own majestic pandal with various sizes and shapes of ganpati idols. Here is a list of must see ganpati pandals in Mumbai. Do visit them if you are in town and seek Lord Ganesha's blessing!
Lalbaugcha Raja is the most famous Sarvajanik Ganapati, [1] kept at Lalbaug, a prominent locality in Mumbai during Ganesh Chaturti festival. The idol is kept for public display for Eleven days thereafter it is immersed on the auspicious day of Anant Chaturdashi. It is believed that this Idol of Lord Ganesha is Navsacha Ganpati (Marathi: नवसाचा गणपती) (which means the "one who fulfills all wishes") and hence over 1.5 million people visit this Ganesh Pandal daily during the 10 day Ganesha festival.
"Azad Nagar Sarvajanik Utsav Samitee was established way back in the year 1966, 49 years ago, by the blue collared workers of Golden Tobacco Company, Tata Special Steel and Excel Industries Ltd. These people had moved from the Lalbaug. Parel bastion and settled in Andheri west, Azad Nagar M.H.B Colony, closer to their factories in which they worked. M.K. Menon, Tukaram Salaskar, Vasudev Kasalkar, etc. were the founder members who started this Ganeshotsav.
Chinchpoklicha Chintamani, the oldest and most famous Ganapati idol, sits very near to the Chinchpokli station during Ganesh festival. This Ganesha is one of the biggest crowd pullers in Mumbai and is known as Chinchpoklicha Chintamani
This is probably one of the few large idols that is eco-friendly as it is not ed out of plasterof-Paris .
Devotees, especially nearby residents , trickle in throughout the day. "For years together , it has been made of shadu maati.
We believe in keeping the tradition alive,'' says one of the organisers .
This pandal has a special charm owing to its simplicity. The pandal does not sprawl over many acres, but is instead a small place scented with agarbatti and the smell of pure ghee. On the 81st anniversary, the Girgaoncha Raja's feet have been crafted in pure silver that weighs more than 16 kg.
Among the Ganesh pandal’s of Mumbai suburb, Sahyadri Krida Mandal is much popular for its creative decorative sets. It is to be noted that popular art directors such as Roderick D’souza, Sudhakar Manjarekar, and many others from different corners of India has got the great opportunity to decorated the Ganesh pandal over the years. For all devotees, Sahyadri Krida Mandal’s organizing committee has made facilities for drinking water and Prasad. The exact location of Sahyadri Krida Mandal is Tilak Nagar, Chembur, Mumbai suburb, Maharashtra. It is just walking distance from the Tilak Nagar main road.
With the cultural vision of celebrating, Community festival of Lord Ganesh, in 1989 Bal Gopal Mitra Mandal was established in a grand manner. This Ganesh pandal appears in the top ten ganesh mandal in Mumbai. This happened because of the major changes introduced by the organizing committee with regard to the making of Sarvajanik Ganesh Idol. Local residents believe that the senior citizens of Vile Parle decided to form a ganesh mandal in this area when they saw tow boys selling their old newspaper and buying Ganesh idol for Rs. 8 from the Vile Parle market. This incident is behind the forming of Gopal Mitra Mandal.
The Shree Siddhivinayak Ganapati Mandir is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shri Ganesh and also one of the richest temples in the city. It is located in Prabhadevi, Mumbai, Maharashtra. It was originally built by Laxman Vithu and Deubai Patil on November 19, 1801.
Held at GSB Sports Club Ground, Near SNDT Women's College, RA Kidwai Road, King's Circle, Matunga, The GSB Seva Ganesh mandal is famous as Mumbai's gold Ganesh. 60 Kg gold is used to cover the statue of Ganesh and is known as the richest in the city.
