Ganpati comes calling in Ahmedabad

If you have not seen Mumbai’s famous ‘Lal Baug ka Raja’ you can check out its lookalike in Ahmedabad. ‘Lal Baug Ka Raja, Ahmedabad Ka Maharaja’ was installed by the Krishna Mitra Mandal at Naranpura on Wednesday morning. The idol is nine feet tall and made of a mixture of clay and plaster of Paris (PoP).   

The idol was gifted to the mandal by Sanjay Dabade and Santosh Kumar from Mumbai. This is the second year that the mandal has brought the lookalike of ‘Lal Baug Ka Raja’ to the city.

Speaking about the fresh elements this year, chairman of the trust Dharmesh Mehta said, “This year, we have introduced special facilities for children of Andhajan mandal and senior citizens of the Naranpura old age home. We have arranged a free pick-up and drop facility for their darshan.” 
 
He also said that a series of cultural activities has been planned for 10 days of the Ganesha festival. “We have arranged for Gujarati folk dance and retro dance competition, Daayro, Gujarati ghazal program, hi-tech laser show and bhajan sandhya for 10 days.”

Artistes like Anup Jalota, Devang Patel, Shahbuddin Rathod, Prince (dancer), Ehsaan Qureshi, Raja Rancho among others will be entertaining the audience at the cultural events.

‘Lalbaugcha Raja’ is a popular ganesh idol in Mumbai. Lakhs of devotees throng the mandal to get a darshan of the beautifully decorated Ganesha idol. It is believed that the lord is a fulfiller of wishes, and lakhs of devotees wait for days in queues to touch the feet of the Elephant God.

Around 50 lakh devotees throng for the darshan of ‘Lalbaugcha Raja’ every year.