Ganesh Chaturthi is a festival celebrated very eventfully, especially in north India. Different people have different customs and traditions related to this festival but one thing that’s the same everywhere is the faith of devotees in Lord Ganesha and enthusiasm.
The elephant-headed Lord Ganesha also known as Gajanan is believed to be the first God to be worshipped in every religious festival. He is believed to be the God of intelligence. Devotees believe that Lord Ganesha will shower them with auspiciousness and happiness if he is impressed by their devotion.
Every city in north India might be celebrating Ganesh Puja but the craze seen in Maharashtra is unmatchable. Everyone welcomes Shri Ganesh with celebration, worships him for seven or nine or eleven days and then finally sends him back with the hope that Ganpati Bappa will come back with more and more happiness.
Craze of Ganesh Chaturthi in Maharashtra
In Maharashtra, it has been a custom for everyone to welcome Ganpati in their houses individually and they also visit each other’s houses to seek blessings from Lord Ganesha for the days he is there.
Not just is the arrival of Ganpati an eventful celebration but the departure of Bappa is also done with huge celebrations. These ten days bring some calmness and happiness to the lives of people living in a state where no one stops.
Massive pandals are set up at the community level by the people collectively in their localities. A huge idol of Lord Ganesha is established there which is worshipped by people of the locality collectively. Various performances are organised by them as a part of the celebration. People from different areas visit different pandals to be a part of the celebration.
Source: Google Images
The Most Famous Ganpati in Maharashtra
Even though Lord Ganesha is worshipped everywhere during the festival, there is one Pandal which is extremely popular. The Ganpati there is believed to fulfil all the wishes. Various people from poor to extremely rich visit Pandal to seek the blessings of Lord Vinayak. The Ganpati I am talking about is the Lalbaugcha Raja, who has a place with the Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal and has been worshipped every year since 1935.
History of Lalbaugcha Raja
In the year 1932, the commercial centre was shut down in the Lalbaug area of Maharashtra. Due to the backdrop of markets, the fishermen of the area vowed to Lord Ganesha to re-establish the business sector in the area. And maybe because of that vow, the business sector was actually started again. The merchants especially fishermen were so happy and grateful for Lord Ganesha that they established an uncommon idol of Ganpati.
Because of the name of the area Lalbaug, they named their Ganpati, Lalbaugcha Raja. Since 1934, they have been establishing Lalbaugcha Raja every year, after worshipping for ten days with extreme enthusiasm, they depart him in the Arabian sea.
Over the years, faith in Lalbaugcha Raja has been increasing exponentially. Every year, hundreds and thousands of devotees visit the pandal especially to seek blessings from him and get their wishes fulfilled. People even wait for hours and days in the queue to touch the feet of Ganpati's idol and seek his blessings.
Lalbaugcha Raja During Freedom Struggle
The custom of establishing Ganpati in Lalbaug started during the era when nationalism and freedom struggle was at the peak. In 1947, India became an independent country and for two or three decades before the independence, there were many freedom fighters trying to convey the ideas of nationalism across the country.
Lalbaugcha Raja became a medium for that. In the initial years, people not just used to gather to be part of the celebration of Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav but also to work for the flexibility of the nation.
Individuals were gaining extreme faith in the powers of Lalbaugcha Raja. His photographs were kept and worshipped by people all over the nation. People still have firm confidence in the favours being gotten from the icon of Ganesha. They offer petitions to Ganpati photograph and get their desires fulfilled.
At the time when nationalism was a hot topic, Lokmanya Tilak started a Mandal named Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav. Since that time, Lalbaugcha Raja's photograph has been considered for the accomplishment of desires and flexibility.
When a couple of members from the Mandal were captured amid the battle, the Ganesh Idol of Lalbaugcha Raja was kept in the get-ups of freedom struggle warriors.
In this way, the Mandal who is arranging the events of Ganeshotsav in Lalbaug is working continuously for ages. And their efforts get paid off in the form of love and popularity they receive from people all over the country.
Who Takes Care of the Idol?
In 1935, the name Ratnakar Kambli was recommended to the organisers as the caretaker of Ganpati's idol. Ratnakar was an idol sculptor. After he died in 1952, Venkatesh, his eldest son took the responsibility, after his demise, the duty was handed over to Ratnakar Kambli Jr.
Now the Kambli arts make the idol of Ganpati and place it in the pandal and after everything is done, Ratnakar draws the eyes with his own hands.
End Note
India is rich in culture, traditions and customs and being able to witness them or to be a part of them is something we should be grateful for.
Written By: Nidhi Jha
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