He is the beginning of every good deed and venture. Apart from being the fulfiller of wishes, He is a great leveler of humanity. He has turned His annual sojourn from being a private family festival to a national fervor. Uniting with bonds of hope and love, here comes Shree Ganesh Chathurthi once again, writes Sushma Sabnis
It is the rainy month of Bhadrapada of the Hindu calendar and the loud clanging of Shree Siddhivinayak temple bells resonate a festivity that drown the din of peak hour traffic at Prabhadevi, Mumbai. The aartis (worship with fire) are probably audible till the heavens, as He is reverently cajoled into coming to stay. The monsoon months see a metro like Mumbai metamorphose into a sensorially hyperactive hub in anticipation of the ten days of Ganesh Chathurthi (annual Ganesh festival). This festival is celebrated with devotion all over the country. ‘Ganapati Bappa’, with his mesmerizing presence draws crowds of devotees of every faith and nationality to witness this ten day sojourn.
The clanging continues at the Shree Siddhivinayak temple complex, at regular intervals and it is rumoured that some devotees take the pain of standing in the serpentine queues only for the delectable modaka prasad at the end of the darshan! Where true devotion exists, greed is overlooked by the good-humoured deity.
The Shree Siddhivinayak temple was built by Late.Mr Laxman Vithu Patil and Late Mrs.Deubai Patil and consecrated in 1801. Since then, the original architecture has evolved into the multi-angular, six floored, gold plated multi-dome structure as it stands today. The sanctum sanctorum is at the ground level as it has always been, while the rest of the temple was rebuilt around it in 1992-1994. The Lord Ganesh black stone idol is unique with the trunk placed on the right side. His consorts, Riddhi-Siddhi flank Him. The temple structure is six storeyed, with space allotted for pooja/ darshan (prayers/audience), preparation of naivedya (offerings), temple offices, a well equipped library with over 8000 books, and more spaces for large scale food preparations for festivals.
There are 47 gold plated domes of varying dimensions that form the spires. The temple is well guarded at all times and various entry points delegate the rush of devotees with special arrangements for senior citizens, women with infants and physically challenged. This temple is open to everyone for worship. The annual Ganesh festival is celebrated here for seven days, and every year with about 1.5 lakh devotees worshipping on those days. Be it fertility, prosperity or health, this temple is famous for its legendary ‘wish-fulfilling’ deity and is a huge crowd puller all year round.
Preparations for this festival can be seen in adjoining markets, with thousands of human heads interspersed with piles of flowers/garlands, fresh fruits and vegetable kiosks, sweetmeat stalls, festival clothes stalls, music equipment stores and festival decoration paraphernalia. One’s senses can be easily hypnotized by these intensely evocative market places. This festival used to be a private family festival during pre-independence times, until freedom fighter Lokmanya Tilak encouraged it to be celebrated as a public event, ensuring purposeful crowd gatherings in restrictive colonial times.
In a highly populated area of Lalbaug, Lower Parel, the ‘Lalbaugcha Raja’ (King of Lalbaug) takes form behind strictly guarded pandals. The history of ‘Raja’ is an example of peoples’ unity. In 1932, the fish markets of Peru chawl, Lalbaug were closed down by the British. With great efforts, a group called, ‘Sarvajanik Ganesh Utsav Mandal, Lalbaug’ was formed in 1934 avowing to rebuild a permanent market place and ensure the livelihoods of the affected communities. With persistent efforts of the committee members, residents and the land owner, Rajabai Tayyabali, the first idol of the deity was consecrated on 12th September 1934 and named ‘Lalbaugcha Raja’. The idol was decorated with traditional fisherfolk attire and since then, He is known to be the ‘iccha-poorthi’ (wish-fulfilling) deity of Mumbai.
There are two idols by the same sculptor every year, one of plaster of paris, and the other is of clay. The clay idol is for daily prayers and smaller in size compared to the 18-20 feet plaster of paris statue. The tableau displays meaningful and pertinent issues faced by society, as a prayer to the deity for absolution. One could acquire an official pass to get a closer look at the deity only from the Lalbaug committee office. One should beware of cheats who ask for bribes for an audience with the deity. There are two specific queues of approach, the Mukh Darshan and Navas queues, depending upon the duration of audience and the manner of worship of the deity. The pandal is lined by numerous food, curios shops, toilets and rest areas ensuring the welfare of the devotees as they wait patiently. On the 10th day of Visarjan, the idols are immersed in the deep sea, carefully heeding to environmental concerns, at Girgaum, Chowpatty sea face.
Each year the roads are stripped of vehicular traffic as millions witness Him depart from Lalbaug and take a specific 24 hour long route to Girgaum via, Arthur road, Bakri Adda and Pydhonie, blessing devotees all along the route. This route is mapped out by the traffic police and telecast via radio and television, to ensure safety and smooth movement of the procession. This procession is the best example of national integration as people from every religion, nationality and social status worship with faith as Lalbaugcha Raja passes by. During the procession special passes are issued to the foreign tourists by the committee for a safe closer look. Alternatively, one could throw caution to the wind and do the ‘Ganpati visarjan’ dance all the way to sea face!
While Bollywood spends millions to capture festivals like ‘tomatina’ and the ‘bull run’ as inspirational support to frail story lines, the annual Ganesh festival of India draws people from the world over. It is the promise of deliverance the deity instills in people’s hearts. No squishing tomatoes or raging bulls assure you of such peace and tranquility as Ganapati Bappa.
