Space is the theme for Mumbai’s Lalbaugcha Raja this year

As Chandrayaan 2 lands on moon on September 7, the first images that will be shown live across the country will also be displayed in the Lalbaughcha Raja pandal. To commemorate the landing, organisers have kept space as the theme.

As Chandrayaan 2 lands on moon on September 7, the first images that will be shown live across the country will also be displayed in the Lalbaughcha Raja pandal. To commemorate the landing, organisers have kept space as the theme.

First Look of Lalbaugcha Raja for media at Lalbaugh in Mumbai, India, on Friday, August 30, 2019. (Satish Bate/HT Photo)

“It is a pure coincidence that Chandrayaan 2 will land during Ganesh Chaturthi. We have had this theme in our mind for quite some time now. It is our ode to ISRO,” said Balasaheb Kamble, president of Lalbaugcharaja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal.

Nitin Desai, art director, said he wanted to do something better after trying virtual reality last year. Last year, the theme was ‘save the environment’, so the decoration was made with eco-friendly products.

This year, the idol has been kept amid LED screens. “When devotees visit the pandal, they will get a feeling that they are in space. It symbolically signifies infinity, which Bappa stands for,” said Desai.

Santosh Kamble, the idol maker, said the idol is sitting on a chair and is 22-feet tall. The arrangements include CCTV cameras, washrooms, metal detectors, resting rooms and feeding rooms for women.

One of the most visited pandals in the suburbs, Andhericha Raja also unveiled its first look. The pandal is designed like the Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga temple of Ujjain. The richest Ganpati mandal in the city, Goud Saraswat Brahmin (GSB) Seva Mandal, King’s Circle, Matunga, also showed its first look. The pandal of GSB is insured for ₹266.65 crore this year.