Lalbaugcha Raja mandal, one of Mumbai’s most iconic and revered Ganpati marquee, had an eventful first day which was marked by several clashes with the police.
Earlier in the day, the Labaugcha Raja organisers had refused to start the aarti and online darshan for devotees after the Mumbai police barricaded the area – crowded narrow bylanes snaking through the Parel chawls in the midst of which is the famed pandal – to prevent devotees from thronging to the area to catch a glimpse of the popular Lord Ganesha idol.
Myth says Lalbaugcha Raja idol is a ‘Navasacha Ganpati’ (the one who fulfils all wishes) and hence over 10 lakh people visit this Ganesh pandal during the 10-day festival.
This is probably why the Mumbai Police fully barricaded the area in the morning and stopped the entry of even the residents inside the premises. Locals said they faced problems entering their own houses.
All the shops in the area were forced to shut due to security and Covid-19 protocols. The Lalbaugcha Raja Ganpati is brought in by local market owners of the area every year but this time they have been forced to shut their shops.
The Ganpati darshan which was to start at 10:30 am began much later after heated arguments between the organisers and the police.
In another instance, a video that had since gone viral shows a senior police officer manhandling a journalist and physically pushing him away from the pandal.
“These were reporters having valid IDs issued by the mandal still they were mistreated by cops,” said an eyewitness.
After the BMC issued fresh guidelines for the Ganpati festival in the wake of a rise in the number of new coronavirus infections and fear of a third wave, and banned all kinds of physical darshan for devotees at public Ganpati pandals, the Lalbaugcha Raja organisers had appealed to citizens to opt for online darshan.
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Assembly Elections Live Updates here.
Comments
0 comment