Since I am in Mumbai, me and my cousin sister decided to visit the famous Lalbaughcha Raja during the Ganpati festival. Ganpati festival in Maharashtra, especially in Mumbai. The Lalbaughcha Raja is very famous in India and people from all across come here for darshan of Ganesha. The Ganesha idol is HUGE and the crowd is massive. The location is Lalbaugh, Mumbai. This pandaal was founded in 1934 at Lalbaug Market by fishermen of the Koli community. It is believed that this idol of Ganesha is Navasacha Ganpati (नवसाचा गणपती), which means the one who fulfils all wishes and because of this, over 1.5 million people visit this Ganesh Pandal daily during the 10-day Ganesha festival.
How we planned?
As I mentioned that over a million people visit lalbaugh ka raja every year, it was obvious that it had to be crowded. So, we consulted some of our friends for tips. We came to know that there is a long queue and we might have to stand for hours to get the Darshan. We planned to reach around 10:30 PM as we were told that queue a little small in comparison to the day time. Also, since the car parkings are very far (and usually full) from the pandaal, we planned take a cab for our convenience.
My experience:
I am a claustrophobic and I start to feel anxious at crowded places. If you know me personally or follow me on my social media, you must be knowing that I avoid going to the crowded places. When I heard about the long queue of lalbaugh, I thought it was a normal queue with people standing properly, but no. It was a mess. I felt like I am a part of a stampede. People were pushing each other and what not. After being a part of the queue and standing for an hour or so, I felt like giving up and going out to breathe. Yes, there was a point when I couldn’t even breathe. My cousin sister hold me tight and told me that once we enter the main zone (the tented area with spiral queue system) then it will be fine. After 3 hours, we reached this point and it was a better. We just had to walk in a proper queue to reach for the darshan.
The Darshan and the Disappointment:
After 4:30 hours of struggle in the crowd, I finally got Ganesh ji’s darshan. The idol was indeed huge and very beautiful BUT not everyone was allowed to touch feet of Ganesha, not even close. Only VVIPs with passes were allowed to seek Ganesha’s blessings and take prasada from the Pandit ji. This was something that I wasn’t aware of, else either I would have gotten a VVIP pass or I wouldn’t have come at first place. I could not even say the Ganesha mantra or my wish in front of the idol. We were just allowed to walk past by. The volunteers were yelling at people and pushing them to move forward.
I was so disappointed, not just for me, but for every single bhakt to came to seek bappa’s blessings; after standing for hours and struggling to survive a stampede, you just get to see bappa for like 20 seconds? The photo you see above was the nearest I could get to the idol and you can get an idea about the crowd from it.
I felt it was better to celebrate Ganpati festival in our building premises and be a part of that celebration. After all, bappa is everywhere and it is just Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal and it’s popularity that brings people here.
My suggestion:
If you want to experience, you may visit but make sure you are prepared for the crowd treatment and a stampede like experience; otherwise, Ganpati bappa is everywhere, celebrate in your nearest pandal, your society, your building premises or your home!
I believe, bhagwan ki puja and bhagwan k darshan shanti aur sukoon paane k liye hota hai, na ki tabiyat kharab kar lo!
P.S: I actually saw people falling after getting dizzy, and it was sad to see this.
Update:
I again visited lalbaughcha raja in 2017 but my friend and flatmmate, this time is was less crowded as we went on the second day of it’s sthapna. Take this tip, if you visit during the earlier days of the festival, you will get less crowd. The near the visarjan date is, the more the crowd. But again, I stick my above mentioned suggestion and I advise you to follow it.
Ganpati Bappa Morya!
Happy Ganesha Chaturthi!
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