Mumbai’s famous Andhericha Raja pandal in Andheri has come up with a bizarre diktat for those visiting their pandal. The representatives have asked devotees to avoid short dresses and advised them to wear traditional clothes or at least a decent pair while arriving to take the blessings of Lord Ganesha.“Ganeshotsav is a traditional festival. So we expect devotees, especially the younger generation to wear decent clothes,” the chief advisor of Andhericha Raja's Azadnagar Sarvajanik Utsav Samiti Yeshodhar Phanse said. The pandal has asked the devotees to dress properly in previous years also.
The organisers also said that they will be keeping a few pairs of track pants near our pandal as a backup plan for people who are not aware of the dress code. The organisers have put up billboards near the Andhericha Raja temple with pictorial descriptions.Andhericha Raja is one of the first mandals in the state to implement a dress code for devotees since the public festival was started by Bal Gangadhar Tilak in 1894. However, organisers of Ganesh Galli's Mumbaicha Raja said that their dress code mandate is not compulsory. “It is people's choice what they should be wearing. We are only creating awareness,” the joint secretary of the pandal Adhwait Pedhamkar told the media.After two years of covid restrictions, Mumbai will be celebrating Ganeshotsav this year with all its vigour after the government lifted all covid related restrictions.