Ganesh Chaturthi 2021: Four-feet rule lays beloved Lalbaugcha Raja idol low

Lalbaugcha Raja’s well-loved image versus its avatar this year

This time, Lalbaugcha Raja is not the towering idol that devotees and citizens are used to. This year, Covid rules mean that the city's favourite Ganesh idol is shown resting on sheshnag and is four feet tall.

Speaking to mid-day, Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal President Balasaheb Kamble, said, "Due to Covid-19 we have to celebrate Ganeshotsav by adhering to government rules and guidelines. The idol height should be 4 feet as per the guidelines and due to this we decided to make the idol in the form of Lord Vishnu on sheshnag." The idol of Lalbaugcha Raja seated on a throne has been around for about 45 years and is said to be around 12ft-14ft tall. Before that every year it was created in a different form.

"In peoples' hearts Lalbaugcha Raja's idol is seated on a sinhasan (throne). But this current idol we had created in 1971 (50 years ago)," Kamble further added. "This is the decision of the mandal. If next year there is no Covid, then we will create the original idol of Ganesh which we used to create every year," Kamble said.