Ganeshotsav in Mumbai: Lalbaughcha Raja Ganeshotsav Mandal in Mumbai has cancelled celebrations this year! Keeping in mind the coronavirus pandemic and the border conflicts with China and Pakistan, the Lalbaughcha Raja Mandal has decided to cancel the Ganeshotsav celebrations this year. Instead of the celebrations, the mandal will hold a blood and plasma donation camp to help those in need, the mandal told news agency ANI. Moreover, mandal’s Secretary Sudhir Salvi said that they would donate the amount of the celebrations to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund and also facilitate the families of the soldiers who were martyred at the LOC and LAC.
This year, the Ganeshotsav celebrations would be at a much subdued level due to the pandemic. Earlier, the Mumbaicha Raja Mandal had told ANI that keeping in mind the risks of huge gatherings, they would keep the celebrations simple and in line with the authorities’ instructions. Moreover, the mandal had said that their Ganpati idol would be about 4-feet tall and it would be immersed in an artificial pond.
Maharashtra is among the states worst affected by the pandemic in India, which is why Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had earlier asked all mandals to celebrate the festival in a low-key manner without any crowding or any processions. This might put a damper on the festive mode since Ganeshotsav is one of the most important festivals for the people of Maharashtra.
Every year, the festival is celebrated over a period of 10 days with much enthusiasm, fervour and joy. Moreover, for the immersion of the Ganpati idols, known as Ganpati Visarjan, huge processions with a large number of people are taken out. The festival is scheduled to begin on August 22 this year.
However, reports have quoted CM Thackeray as saying that since the threat of COVID-19 is still around, the festival would have to be celebrated without big crowds, processions or fanfare, so that the tradition of celebrating the festival is not broken but precautionary measures are still followed.