On the first day of the 2025 Ganesh Chaturthi Festival, the Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal began counting the donations received from devotees on Thursday, August 28. According to Treasurer Mangesh Dattaram Dalvi, 80 people have been assigned the duty of counting and informed that the previous year's donation of Rs 48 lakh was received from the devotees.
"This is the first day's box. Now the counting is just starting. There are three boxes. So far, one box has been opened. 80 people are here for the counting. Last year, we got 48 lakh rupees on the first day," he said. Every year, millions of devotees come here for darshan. The unveiling of the Lalbaugcha Raja, the iconic Ganesh idol, is also one of the main attractions of the festival.
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The history of the Lalbaugcha Raja is quite famous, as it is the popular Ganesh Idol of Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal, located at Putlabai Chawl, a worship place founded in 1934.
The Lalbaugcha Raja Ganapati idol has been taken care of by the Kambli family for over eight decades. Ganesh Chaturthi, a ten-day festival that starts on the fourth day of the Hindu lunisolar calendar month 'Bhadrapada', will start on August 27 this year. This auspicious ten-day festival starts with 'Chaturthi' and ends on 'Anantha Chaturdashi'.
The festive period is also known as 'Vinayak Chaturthi' or 'Vinayak Chavithi'. The festival celebrates Ganesha as the 'God of New Beginnings' and the 'Remover of Obstacles' as well as the god of wisdom and intelligence.It is celebrated with much fanfare in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra, with lakhs of devotees converging into mandals to seek blessings from Lord Ganesh.
For the festivities, people bring Lord Ganesh idols to their homes, observe fasts, prepare mouth-watering delicacies, and visit pandals during the festival. For the past decade, a Mumbai-based artisan has been quietly revolutionising the way devotees celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi, crafting Ganpati idols out of eco-paper instead of traditional clay or POP.