Ahead of the 10-day Ganesh Chaturthi festival, the highly anticipated first look of Mumbai’s iconic Lalbaugcha Raja was revealed on Friday. This year, Lalbaugcha Raja, one of Mumbai’s oldest and most revered Ganesh mandals, will feature a 12-foot-tall idol.
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#WATCH | First look of Mumbai’s Lalbaugcha Raja unveiled ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi pic.twitter.com/rZ7G1QZ5zv
— ANI (@ANI) September 5, 2024
Thousands of devotees flock to Lalbaugcha Raja each year to view the idol of Lord Ganesh. Ganesh Chaturthi, celebrated during the Bhadrapada month of the Hindu calendar, commemorates the birthday of Lord Ganesha, the son of Shiva and Parvati. The festival, also known as Vinayak Chaturthi and Ganeshotsav, involves installing clay idols of Ganesha in homes and public spaces, culminating in the immersion (visarjan) of the idol in a river or sea on Anant Chaturdashi.
The Ganesh Chaturthi festivities for this year are set to begin on September 19.
On the same day, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated the “Namo Express,” a special Ganpati train from Mumbai’s Dadar station to Konkan. Mr. Fadnavis noted that the Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has arranged six special trains and 338 buses to transport devotees to the Konkan region for the festival.