It's touch-and-go at Lalbaugcha Raja

Mandal plans to display idol on small dais instead of climb-on stage, so people can touch it from theu00a0ground and move on, ensuring a continuous movement of the queue and cutting short the wait

Is the thought of standing in a file forever for a glimpse of the Lalbaugcha Raja daunting to you? Well, the Lord will be merciful to you this year.

The wait in the queue that leads up to the Ganesha idol, which easily takes around or over 15 hours on a good day, will be cut short at least by five to six hours.


From this year, the idol will be kept at the edge of a humble stage, which will allow devotees to touch the idol's feet from the ground

The respite comes with the Ganesha mandal deciding not to perch the massive idol on an elaborate podium that one could climb and crowd.
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Instead, it will be kept at the edge of a humble stage, allowing devotees to touch the idol's feet from the ground, and move on.

Ashok Pawar, chairman, Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal, said, "We are not planning anything extravagant this year.

The idol will be kept on a simple and small stage. People in the queue will be allowed to touch the deity's feet and asked to move on. The same would be held for celebrities who come to seek the Lord's blessings. This will help cut the waiting time short as the queue would move fast, without any stop."

At Lalbaugcha Raja, which completes 78 years this year, there generally are two queues. One allows enthusiasts to go up on the stage and touch the idol. People are willing to stand in a queue for over 14 hours to get there.

The other queue, which allows devotees to glance at the idol from a distance of nearly 20 feet, takes seven to eight hours.

A senior member of the mandal said, "Even celebrities wouldn't be allowed to climb onto the stage. We are following the Shirdi Sai Baba pattern, where devotees walk in a queue to touch the samadhi and turn back to come out. This will make the queue shorter."

In all these years, the queue would invariably come to a standstill at various junctures. "The queue was halted if celebrities showed up. We couldn't maintain the flow continuously as the stage had a limited capacity. It couldn't accommodate a lot of people," said a former president of the mandal.

Ganesh Chaturthi falls on September 1 this year. Lalbaugcha Raja, the city's most popular Ganesh pandal, sees nearly 1-1.5 crore devotees in the 10 days of the festival. The rush and frenzy is such that many devotees even land in the first aid centre.

Last year, MiD DAY reporter Rinkita Gurav spent 15 hours in the line to get a glimpse of the deity ('15 hours wait for 15-second darshan')

Devotees speak
I welcome the mandal's decision. It would be much easier for devotees now. But the mandal should enforce this rule for all, including celebrities.u00a0
Savita Kolekar, Oshiwara

I am upset with the decision. I wished to seek blessings from the Lord up close. If I am not allowed up on the stage, how will I fulfill my wish? But I agree that it will save devotees a lot of the time.u00a0
Pranali Manjrekar, Andheri

Inputs by Chetna Yerunkar