Mumbai: Lalbaugcha Raja immersion delayed due to technical snag

Typically, the idol is immersed in the sea latest by 9am on the day after Anant Chaturdashi, which marks the last day of the 10-day Ganpati festival

Mumbai: In a break from tradition, Lalbaugcha Raja – the idol of one of the oldest and most famous Ganpati mandals in the city – was immersed at Girgaum Chowpatty late in the evening on Sunday, more than 12 hours after its usual time of immersion. Typically, the idol is immersed in the sea latest by 9am on the day after Anant Chaturdashi, which was not possible this year due to a technical snag, said officials.

This year, an electrically-operated raft was used to immerse the idol, as opposed to mechanised rafts used earlier. (HT Photo)

“By the time our procession reached the chowpatty, high tide had already set in,” said Sudhir Salavi, honorary secretary of the Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal.

The procession with the 18-feet-tall idol set off from Lalbaug around 12pm on Saturday and reached Girgaum Chowpatty around 8am on Sunday, said volunteers with the mandal.

“As a first step, we had to transfer the idol from the trolley onto the raft on which it would be taken into the sea,” said a volunteer. “But the waist deep waters made it difficult to load the idol onto the raft, despite many volunteers, including from other mandals, helping us.”

A 4.42-metre tide was expected at 11:40am on Sunday, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast issued at 8am. Since high tides usually begin around six hours before the peak point, it had already set in by the time Lalbaugcha Raja reached the beach on Sunday morning, said a civic official.

The idol was loaded onto the electrically-operated raft – a departure from the mechanised raft used earlier – at 4:45pm, more than eight hours after reaching the chowpatty. But the immersion happened another four hours later as volunteers found it difficult to negotiate the rough waters.

“It was difficult to secure the idol on the raft and balance it amidst the massive waves. We couldn’t move till the time it was safe for us to venture deep into the sea,” said the volunteer quoted earlier.

Finally, around 9pm, the idol was immersed in the sea, amid fervent chants of ‘Pudhchya varshi lavkar yaa (Come soon next year)’.