Lalbaugcha Raja: History, significance and faith; Ganeshotsav festivities begin

The colourful and grand celebration of Mumbai’s Ganesh Chaturthi is usually associated with ‘Lalbaugcha Raja’ or ‘King of Lalbaug’, also popularly called Navasacha Ganpati or wish-fulfilling Ganesha.

Every year Ganeshotsav festivities start in Mumbai with the unveiling of the first look of ‘Lalbaugcha Raja’, which is located in Putlabai Chawl. Due to COVID-19 restrictions in Maharashtra, the pandal celebration was not up to the mark in the last two years. But this time Mumbai is ready to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi in a traditional manner and once again the main attraction would be ‘Lalbaugcha Raja’

History of wish-fulfilling Ganpati
The history of Mumbai—Lalbaug in Parel goes back to the 1900s, when the entire area was dominated by more than 100 textile mills. It is because of these mills, this area was locally known as Girangaon or the ‘village of mills’. At the peak of industrialisation in the 1930s, the textile industry saw some huge changes and textile mills had to bear the brunt, affecting the lives and livelihood of people who used to live in the vicinity.


As all hopes faded, locals turned to their favourite god Ganesha to help them sail through the hard times. Fortunately, the community managed to survive after they were granted a plot of land, which is currently known as Lalbaug market. According to locals, it was the blessings of their favourite elephant-headed Ganesha, which helped them survive those tough times.

To pay their respects to Ganesha, the community in Lalbaug decided to earmark a portion of the land for Ganpati celebration. The dedicated part of the land is also called Sarvajanik Ganesh Mandal (community celebration of the festival), where every year an idol of the god Ganesha is established. Each year, locals dress their favourite god in different dresses and call him the ‘Raja’ or King of the locality.

Over the years, the scale and size of these celebrations have increased to a grand scale and pandals also compete with each other to show their enormity and magnificence. Millions throng Lalbaug to pay their respects to the wish-fulfilling Ganesha and one can see long queues, where people sometimes wait for more than 40 hours to catch a glimpse of their favourite deity.

The first look of 'Lalbaugcha Raja'


When is Ganesh Chaturthi in India in 2022?
The Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations will begin on August 31 and end on September 9. It is also called Vinayaka Chaturthi or Vinayaka Chavithi. This festival is eagerly awaited and celebrated across India. It is one of those grand and elebratore Hindu festivals which is celebrated over 10 days. Besides grand celebrations in pandals across many states, devotees also bring Ganesh idols to their homes to worship him.

How's Ganesh Chaturthi celebrated?
The celebration begins by bringing an idol of Lord Ganesha to homes or pandals and then worshipped for 10 days. On the 11th day, these idols are taken out for grand visarjan or immersion in some water body with a colourful procession. Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated on a grand scale in states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu.