Ganpati special: Festival to have tours of iconic mandals for foreigners

The spiritual and social traditions of Ganesh utsav will be on display with the state government planning to use these celebrations to attract domestic and foreign tourists to Maharashtra.

This will include tours for visitors covering iconic Ganesh mandals in cities like Mumbai and Pune and events at locations like the Asiatic Society of Mumbai precinct to unveil the history and cultural significance of the festival.

Jaykumar Rawal, minister for tourism and employment guarantee scheme (EGS) told DNA that the state tourism department will market the festival through initiatives like special buses and Ganpati walks for tourists in Mumbai and Pune to cover iconic mandals.

Rawal, who held a meeting with BMC and tourism department officials recently, added that the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) will collaborate with the BMC to set up an enclosure for foreign tourists to watch the Ganesh immersion procession at Girg Chowpaty. The enclosure will be able to accommodate 200 tourists at one go in batches of an hour.

"This is the 125th year of the Ganesh utsav. So, we are trying to ensure maximum peoples' participation and projection of the work done by the mandals. This will also showcase how the celebration of the festival changed over the years," said Ashutosh Rathod, Joint Managing Director, MTDC, adding that this would be a draw for domestic and foreign tourists.

Rathod said they planned to invite scholars, experts and historians to speak at seminars on the worship of Lord Ganesha in other countries "These events will be decentralised at locations like the Asiatic Society of Mumbai in Fort, BKC and Dadar," added Rathod.