Mumbai bids grand farewell to Bappa, scores gather for Lalbaugcha Raja procession
Rain, bomb threat failed to dampen spirit as scores gathered in Mumbai on Saturday for visarjan, bidding farewell to Lord Ganesha after 10-day long festivities.
After ten vibrant days filled with grand Ganpati pandals, countless charming household Bappas, mountains of modaks, soul-stirring aartis, and warm gatherings, this year’s Ganesh Chaturthi festival is set to conclude on Saturday as the lord gets immersed in water.
The farewell processions, marked by the auspicious immersion of Lord Ganesha, drew thousands of devotees across Maharashtra, especially in Mumbai, on Friday and Saturday.
Over the past 10 days, Mumbai, its adjoining cities and several others parts of the state have been in celebratory mood for Ganesh Chaturthi, which rain in the initial days, and a bomb threat on Friday, attempted to dampen but failed.
Here's how Ganesh Chaturthi went
-Ganesh Chaturthi 2025: Ganesh Chaturthi festival, celebrations and rituals of which are carried out through 10 days, was observed peacefully in Maharashtra, with scores of devotees offering prayers across pandals and many bringing idols home for worship, immersing them as per rituals on the second, third, fifth and seventh day of the celebrations.
{{/usCountry}}-Ganesh Chaturthi 2025: Ganesh Chaturthi festival, celebrations and rituals of which are carried out through 10 days, was observed peacefully in Maharashtra, with scores of devotees offering prayers across pandals and many bringing idols home for worship, immersing them as per rituals on the second, third, fifth and seventh day of the celebrations.
{{/usCountry}}-Mumbai rain: Mumbai and its adjoining areas were pounded by heavy rain in the days leading to the Ganesh Chaturthi festival, however, the 10-day celebrations largely remained unaffected by the intermittent downpour. On Friday and Saturday (Anant Chaturdashi), people were seen braving rain amid for immersion processions of Ganesh idols.
– Scenes at Lalbaug: At Lalbaug in central Mumbai, famous for its iconic Ganapati mandals, the processions began with the immersion journeys of idols of Tejukaya, Ganesh Gully, and several other mandals on Friday. Lalbaugcha Raja, one of the most majestic idols of Mumbai, also left the pandal on Saturday afternoon after being offered final prayers before visarjan. Visuals showed large crowds gathering at Shroff Building, where the traditional "Pushpvrishti" (flower shower) is performed on Ganpati idols. More visuals showed devotees dancing to 'dhol-tasha' as processions carrying idols toured through the city.
–Bomb threat: Mumbai Police on Friday said it is on high alert after a threat call was received in which the caller claimed that 34 “human bombs” carrying “400 kg of RDX” have been planted in 34 vehicles for a blast that will “shake the entire city”. The threat call was received on traffic police helpline. A 51-year-old man, identified as Ashwini Kumar, was arrested from Sector 79 in UP's Noida for over the fake bomb threat, which police on Saturday said he sent in a bid to frame his friend in Bihar as an act of “revenge”.
– Ganesh visarjan in other cities: Visarjan processions were taking place across other cities parallelly as devotees bid farewell to their beloved Lord Ganesh with grand celebrations. In Nagpur, a mangal aarti was performed at Nagpur Cha Raja before the immersion began. Over in Pune, the rhythmic beats of dhols fill the air as thousands gather to accompany the Shrimant Bhausaheb Rangari Ganpati idol on its final journey. Meanwhile, in Hyderabad, the 69-foot-tall Khairatabad (shown above) Ganesh idol also left for visarjan procession on Saturday.
