Thane: The state government has decided to give awards to the best public Ganeshotsav mandals in the state during the Ganeshotsav beginning from September 19, 2023.
The state Cultural Affairs minister Sudhir Mungantiwar has appealed that maximum number of public Ganesh Mandals should register their participation in this competition by September 15, 2023.
Cash prizes announced for best Mandal
For this competition, the best 44 Ganeshotsav Mandals will be selected, 3 each from Mumbai, Mumbai suburbs, Pune, Thane districts and one each from other districts. Out of these 44 Ganeshotsav mandals, the first best Ganeshotsav mandal in the state will be honored with a prize of ₹5 lakh, the second place with ₹2.5 lakh, and the third place will get ₹1 lakh.
The remaining 41 Ganeshotsav mandals will be given a prize of ₹25 thousand each and a certificate by the state government. Ganesh Mandals can apply to the competition till September 15, 2023 to participate in the Best Public Ganeshotsav Competition. Ganesh Mandals should apply on the e-mail mahotsav.plda@gmail.com.
The application form by the P.L.Deshpande Kala Academy through e-mail will be made available to the concerned Collector's office for examination by September 18.
How the best Mandal will be selected
Between 19th and 28th September, members of the district-level committee will visit and examine the Ganeshotsav Mandals participating in the competition. They will evaluate videography and documentation with feedback. The district-level committee recommends an excellent Ganesha mandal from the district by 1st October. The state-level committee will recommend the best three Ganesha Mandals in the state to the Academy. Accordingly, Kala Academy will announce the winning mandals and award will be given to the winning Ganesh mandals on 12th October.
The details of the competition and selection criteria of the competition have been mentioned in the decision of the Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs dated 4th July 2023 on the website www.maharashtra.gov.in of the state government.
