Mumbai will observe its second annual Ganeshotsav from Sunday with many sarvajanik mandals or community groups preparing for Maghi Ganesh. Although celebrated less lavishly, the festival in the month of Magh has gained popularity over the years and resembles the main Ganeshotsav in the month of Bhadrapada. The religiously-significant day will start on Tuesday, marking Ganesh Jayanti or the birthday of Lord Ganesh. The celebrations will end on February 23.
Mandals have been especially set up to celebrate the festival
In Mumbai, there are mandals that have been especially set up to celebrate the festival. Most pandals have an 'aagman' ceremony on Monday to welcome the idol of the god. The Dusra Kumbharwada Sarvajanik Maghi Ganesh Utsav Mandal at Girgaum, which has an 11-feet-tall idol, will have an 'aagman' with a procession that will have around 500 participants.
"It will be like the Bhadrapad Ganeshotsav"
“There will be music and dancing. It will be like the Bhadrapad Ganeshotsav. We were one of the first mandals to observe the festival, but many other mandals celebrate it now,” said the Mandal’s Rahul Bhalekar who added that they also celebrate the Bhadrapad Ganeshotsav. “We started the Bhadrapad Ganeshotsav 78 years ago and 25 years later began the Maghi celebrations too.” At Dadar’s Sarvanik Shri Magh Ganeshotsav Mandal on Dadasaheb Phalke Road, established in 1960, where the deity is known as Dadarcha Lambodar, the festival will start with 'aagman' on Sunday evening and deity's 'pratishthan' will be done on the morning of February 13.
Temples too observe special Ganesh programmes on Ganesh Jayanti. Shree Ram Mandir at Wadala, which also has a shrine to Lord Ganesh, will have 'Gan Homa' at around 8am on Tuesday. Many families bring home idols of the deity and observe rituals similar to that followed during the Bhadrapad festivities. The festival is also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi after the deity’s other name. In most homes, a naivedh or food offering made of jaggery and sesame seeds is prepared, giving the festival another name – Tilgud Chaturthi.
