Hey Good day ppl !
The Elephant headed God is all inviting this year for me. I have taken darshan of the max number of Ganapati's this year. I never imagined I would go for the Lalbaugh ka Raja's darshan after hearing stories about its long queues, crowds, its miraculous granting of prayers,...
But checking snaps, reading articles, hearing first hand accounts from friends & collegues I got excited & asked my always enthu office group to join in. We decided on saturday 18th sept 2010. Friday I missed office since was ill with bad cold & bless my boss, he granted everyone a saturday off ;). So it was plain we had to visit Lalbaugh ka Raja. :D Morning 7:30am we 5 reached Currey Road station & then walked towards Lalbaugh.
There are multiple entry & exit points. We decided to go in the Mukh Darshan(just see the deity) queue. There is another queue for Navas fed(pooja for prayers answered & return of promissory offering) which is a long one & people wait min 12hours for this.
This year the trust has made great provisions for the devotees. This is a pandal with a capacity to hold 6000 people at a time, it is centrally air conditioned along with ceiling & big fans, there are barricades which make sure the people are in queue & no pushing,shoving happens to get ahead. The volunteers, police, commandos make sure order in maintained at all times & no inconvenience caused.
There are these huge LCD screens put up on either end which stream ads & once in a while Live feeds of the Ganapati darshan.
After the pandal comes the lane with shops on either sides where the main temple is & the Raja is awaiting his devotees. This place never closes throughout the 10days. Only during prasad & changing of the Gods attire is a curtain pulled across, else all times the crowds keep pouring in.
Getting closer ! There are cameras of all the TV channels on top which stream Live updates about the darshan. If you want to offer anything to the God, you just need to hold up the garland or packet & the volunteers pass it on towards the stage.
He truly is the Raja. Guess no snap will do justice to the splendor & charisma this deity emits. One always bows down his head when in his presence in prayer & receiving his blessings.
So after exact 2:30 hrs we got out sweaty, humbled, pleased with our patience and hungry.
Our next stop was the Ganapati in Ganesh galli, neighbour of Lalbaugh cha Raja. Every year this place hosts a replica of some famous spot in India or a theme. This year they hosted a replica of 'Chamundeshwari Temple' in Mysore.
This beautiful,mammoth nandi was superb. I loved this 1.
Reminds me of our family trip down south when we were in school. Exactly done.
This Ganapati & its trust has always been famous for hosting a 22 feet idol every year & its unique, massive decorations. During our parents days this Ganapati got more crowds than Lalbaugh due to its size. It seems you could take 2hours to view Ganesh galli Ganapati & Lalbaugh cha Raja could be done in 5mins. But since early days this Ganapati is given the honour of being first during Visarjan & then Lalbaugh cha Raja is moved from its place for visarjan.
This cute marble idol was in the temple right outside the Ganesh Galli. This idol is very endearing.
Our 3rd stop was at GSB-Wadala. GSB stands for Gaud Saraswat Brahmin. This is a south indian brahmin trust & this idol is hosted in the temple which is a famous Ram temple. I have been in this neighbourhood since childhood as my granny stays here but never knew a Ganapati temple also existed. This idol is also famous for granting prayers but more famous for the gold worn by this deity here. It is always decked in gold & numerous flowers. This year it has an insurance policy of 50crores.
After spending time at my granny's place, I started back for home. The taxi driver offered to drop me at Sion. On reaching Sion, I realised I could easily visit this Vithal-Rakhumaiye temple which I have been promising myself since years. Everytime I pass this temple, I tell myself someday Ill get time out & visit this. My mom knows the owners of this place where the temple stands. It is a replica of the Pandharpur Vithal temple. It being afternoon time there was no one except for a granny reading shlokas, having time & camera at hand made it beautiful to sit down & meditate.
Vithal Vithal, Jai hare Vithal still resonates in my mind :). An impromptu visit gone well.
Our colony main Ganapti at Gangadhar Deshmukh hall.
Every year the employee association hosts the Ganapati, does some simple yet beautiful decorations, arranges cultural activities for adults & kids all 10days
Beautiful day well spent. Thank god next day was a Sunday!!! yipee :D
Check out the earlier Ganapati festival post:
Festivals:Ganpati 2010
Bye. Tc.
The Elephant headed God is all inviting this year for me. I have taken darshan of the max number of Ganapati's this year. I never imagined I would go for the Lalbaugh ka Raja's darshan after hearing stories about its long queues, crowds, its miraculous granting of prayers,...
But checking snaps, reading articles, hearing first hand accounts from friends & collegues I got excited & asked my always enthu office group to join in. We decided on saturday 18th sept 2010. Friday I missed office since was ill with bad cold & bless my boss, he granted everyone a saturday off ;). So it was plain we had to visit Lalbaugh ka Raja. :D Morning 7:30am we 5 reached Currey Road station & then walked towards Lalbaugh.
There are multiple entry & exit points. We decided to go in the Mukh Darshan(just see the deity) queue. There is another queue for Navas fed(pooja for prayers answered & return of promissory offering) which is a long one & people wait min 12hours for this.
This year the trust has made great provisions for the devotees. This is a pandal with a capacity to hold 6000 people at a time, it is centrally air conditioned along with ceiling & big fans, there are barricades which make sure the people are in queue & no pushing,shoving happens to get ahead. The volunteers, police, commandos make sure order in maintained at all times & no inconvenience caused.
There are these huge LCD screens put up on either end which stream ads & once in a while Live feeds of the Ganapati darshan.
After the pandal comes the lane with shops on either sides where the main temple is & the Raja is awaiting his devotees. This place never closes throughout the 10days. Only during prasad & changing of the Gods attire is a curtain pulled across, else all times the crowds keep pouring in.
Getting closer ! There are cameras of all the TV channels on top which stream Live updates about the darshan. If you want to offer anything to the God, you just need to hold up the garland or packet & the volunteers pass it on towards the stage.
He truly is the Raja. Guess no snap will do justice to the splendor & charisma this deity emits. One always bows down his head when in his presence in prayer & receiving his blessings. So after exact 2:30 hrs we got out sweaty, humbled, pleased with our patience and hungry.
Our next stop was the Ganapati in Ganesh galli, neighbour of Lalbaugh cha Raja. Every year this place hosts a replica of some famous spot in India or a theme. This year they hosted a replica of 'Chamundeshwari Temple' in Mysore.
This beautiful,mammoth nandi was superb. I loved this 1.
Reminds me of our family trip down south when we were in school. Exactly done.
This Ganapati & its trust has always been famous for hosting a 22 feet idol every year & its unique, massive decorations. During our parents days this Ganapati got more crowds than Lalbaugh due to its size. It seems you could take 2hours to view Ganesh galli Ganapati & Lalbaugh cha Raja could be done in 5mins. But since early days this Ganapati is given the honour of being first during Visarjan & then Lalbaugh cha Raja is moved from its place for visarjan.
This cute marble idol was in the temple right outside the Ganesh Galli. This idol is very endearing. 
Our 3rd stop was at GSB-Wadala. GSB stands for Gaud Saraswat Brahmin. This is a south indian brahmin trust & this idol is hosted in the temple which is a famous Ram temple. I have been in this neighbourhood since childhood as my granny stays here but never knew a Ganapati temple also existed. This idol is also famous for granting prayers but more famous for the gold worn by this deity here. It is always decked in gold & numerous flowers. This year it has an insurance policy of 50crores.
After spending time at my granny's place, I started back for home. The taxi driver offered to drop me at Sion. On reaching Sion, I realised I could easily visit this Vithal-Rakhumaiye temple which I have been promising myself since years. Everytime I pass this temple, I tell myself someday Ill get time out & visit this. My mom knows the owners of this place where the temple stands. It is a replica of the Pandharpur Vithal temple. It being afternoon time there was no one except for a granny reading shlokas, having time & camera at hand made it beautiful to sit down & meditate.
Vithal Vithal, Jai hare Vithal still resonates in my mind :). An impromptu visit gone well.
Our colony main Ganapti at Gangadhar Deshmukh hall.
Every year the employee association hosts the Ganapati, does some simple yet beautiful decorations, arranges cultural activities for adults & kids all 10daysBeautiful day well spent. Thank god next day was a Sunday!!! yipee :D
Check out the earlier Ganapati festival post:
Festivals:Ganpati 2010
Bye. Tc.
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