Khetwadicha Ganraj, Khetwadi Lane 12
An immensely popular Ganesh mandal in the city is the Khetwadicha Ganraj in Khetwadi Gully no.12. Charni Road’s Khetwadi neighbourhood comprises 12 lanes with each lane having its own Ganesha idol. All idols are revered equally, but lane no. 12 is extremely popular among devotees. This year, the mega pandal is inspired by the Roman palaces and our very own Rajasthani mahals, turning it into a Euro-Indo fusion. Well-known set designer Dilip Shirodkar has designed the pandal, which took around four months to complete from designing, construction and the final touch-ups. The 14-feet idol is all set to dazzle the devotees this year as this time, the idol will have a lot of glittering stones decorating it. A huge chunk of the money that will be donated by the devotees this year will go towards the farmers of Maharashtra that have been going through an extremely difficult phase.
GSB Seva Mandal, King’s Circle
GSB Seva Mandal at King’s Circle is known for its trademark eco-friendly idol made out of clay. In fact, even the colours used on this idol are water soluble and do not harm the marine life, thus reducing the overall water pollution. This pandal is known for its charity and is visited by at least 40 lakh devotees during the five days of the festival until the idol is immersed on the fifth day. The mandal that manages the Ganesh pandal is an NGO, which conducts social work throughout the year. So, after the fest is over, the NGO is planning to construct a multi-specialty hospital near Mira Road.
