Mumbai: Uddhav Thackeray with family visits Lalbaugcha Raja on Ganesh Chaturthi

Uddhav Thackeray along with wife Rashmi and son Aaditya at Lalbaugcha Raja. Pic/Aaditya Thackeray/X

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief and former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray along with family reached at Lalbaugcha Raja in Mumbai to seek the blessings of lord Ganesh.

Along with Uddhav Thackeray, his son Aaditya Thackeray was also seen visiting the Lalbaugbcha Raja.

The 10-day Ganesh Chaturthi festival started in Maharashtra on Tuesday, with idols of Lord Ganesh, the god of prosperity and wisdom being installed in homes and at pandals across the state with pomp and gaiety.

Devotees begin reaching Lalbaug

11 months agoWEBSTORY

Meanwhile, several political leaders and film and television personalities also welcomed the deity to their homes.

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde on Tuesday offered prayers in Thane on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi.

Maharashtra deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday after welcoming lord Ganesh at his residence visited MNS chief Raj Thackeray's house.

The public celebration of the festival in Maharashtra dates back to the 1890s when the nationalist leader Bal Gangadhar Tilak and others decided to use it to mobilize the masses.

Ganesh mandals in Mumbai and other major cities of Maharashtra took large idols in processions accompanied by dhol-tasha beats to their pandals in the last few days.

Household Ganesh idols were brought mostly on Monday night or in the morning Tuesday with chants of 'Ganpati Bappa Morya'.

Devotees thronged vegetable and flower markets, sweet shops and roadside stalls for buying flowers, puja materials, sweets and decorative items.

Mumbai is steeped in devotion to welcome the annual homecoming of Lord Ganesh as the 10-day festival began on Tuesday with decorations in pandals and houses getting final touches.

A total of 2,729 'sarvajanik Ganeshotsav mandals' have been permitted to organise public Ganesh festivities by erecting 'pandals', the city civic body said on Monday.

Preparations for the festival have been completed by conducting a special drive that included checking pandal premises, idol immersion routes and spots.

A large number of devotees are expected to visit Lalbaug in central Mumbai to catch a glimpse of Lalbaugcha Raja, one of the most celebrated Ganeshas of the city, followed by GSB Seva Mandal's Ganpati in Matunga, which is considered the richest and known for its grandeur.

Other famous Ganesh mandals are in Chinchpokli, Ganesh Gully and Tejukaya.