Tilak Nagar’s famous Ganesh mandal "Sahyadri Krida Mandal" to have adventure rides, games and parks

Pray and play: A mandal with an amusement park

Tilak Nagar’s famous Ganesh mandal to have adventure rides, games and parks

MUMBAI: Devotees visiting Tilak Nagar’s famous Sahyadri Krida Mandal - known for its covert patronisation by fugitive underworld don Chhota Rajan - will no longer see replicas of world class monuments during the 11 day Ganesh festival.
VIJAYANAND GUPTA/HT Ice Bal Ganesha is maintained at -10° Celsius at a Kurla (West) mall. F

or the first time in 36 years and breaking with age-old tradition, the 32,000 sq ft municipal hall in a corner of the Tilak Nagar ground will be transformed into a children’s amusement park with the Ganesh idol in the sanctum.
Over the past month, more than 100 artisans and twice the number of workers have been engaged in creating Kids World, a home-grown concept in clay, plaster and a wooden plank module.
“Our pandal will be the best fun-filled place in town for children during the festival,” said PG Patil, mandal secretary and former trade union leader. “The amusement park will include everything from a water park, Jurassic Park to rides and games.”
Bollywood art director Prasenjit Kendra is designing the pandal and Murtikar Babi Bandekar has made the idol.

An event management company (e-world) will organise round-the- clock games and competitive events for children.
“Since every child visiting the pandal will be given take away gifts, they [children] will naturally compel their parents to keep visiting us,” Patil said.
Vinod Jisa, the mandal’s official photographer for over a decade, said the decision to discontinue the tradition of creating replicas of world famous monuments was taken during the executive committee meeting last month.
“Why duplicate everything? Let’s do some creative work,” said Jisa adding that though the theme park can be vaguely compared with Disneyland in t he US, it will be very different from Disneyland amusements.




Without revealing the exact budget, organisers have claimed the expenses are being met from collections and donations from more than 20,000 households in Tilak Nagar. “But it should not be more than Rs40-50 lakh,” said Patil. When asked about Rajan’s contribution, Patil said, “It [link between Rajan and the mandal] is all a creation of paperwallahs [the press]. The Nikhalje [Rajan’s] family lives in Tilak Nagar and their members have been visiting the pandals over the years, like other residents. The matter ends here.”

KNOW YOUR MANDAL

In 1977, the Sahyadri Krida Mandal, a small-time sports club in Tilak Nagar started the Sarvajanik Ganesh Utsav in Chembur (Tilak Nagar).
In 1980, the mandal decided to shift the venue to the nearby Lokmanya Tilak municipal ground, which added popularity to the festival. Over the years, various art directors such as Sudhakar Manjarekar, Roderick D’souza and Rashid Khan have decorated the sets. However, underworld don Chhota Rajan’s shadow is writ large in every aspect of the Utsav.
Facilities: Prasad and water facility is arranged by the mandal for all devotees.

Peak hours: 3pm to midnight.
Security: The police are asking the organisers to install closed circuit television cameras at the venue, parking spaces and along the roads leading to the venue.
Specialty: Gigantic decoration sets such as replicas of the Lotus Temple, Pune’s historic palace called Shaniwar Wada, Mysore palace and Red fort, Disney Land had been made in the past. Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor spent his childhood here

First-day collections at city mandals shoot up this year

More devotees turn up at city mandals as compared to last year

MUMBAI: Just two days into the Ganesh festival, several city mandals look set to surpass last year’s total collections donated by devotees.

On Wednesday, The Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganesh Mandal, known to attract the largest crowds and the most generous devotees, saw, for its first-day collection, a rise of Rs 10 lakh from last year’s amount of Rs 75 lakh.
“We are sure the total collection over ten days will be more than last year’s collection of Rs 8 crore during the festival,” said treasurer Ranjendra Lanjwal. Last year, the Lalbaug mandal had collected a total amount of Rs 22 crore through auctions and donations through the year. On Wednesday, the Gaud Saraswat Brahmin (GSB) Seva Mandal at King’s Circle, collected Rs 24.58 lakh through direct donations at the mandal. The overall collection through the mandal’s five-day festival may topple last year’s total collection of Rs 5.18 crore. “The amount received so far has already reached Rs 4.5 crore in cash alone.We are expecting a 10% increase in our total collections this year,” said senior trustee Satish Nayak. Ganesh Galli’s Lalbaug Sarvajanik Utsav Mandal received Rs 3. 22 lakh on the first day along with 30 tolas of gold biscuits apart from other gold and silver offerings. “Last year, we received Rs 2 lakh in cash on the first day, and even the gold offerings were less compared to this year,” said secretary Swapnil Parab. The footfall at several mandals was also bigger. There were almost 70,000 visitors at Azadnagar Sarvajanik Utsav Samitte on Wednesday. “The figure is more than double the number from last year,” said committee spokesperson Uday Salian. Almost 80,000 people visited the Lalbaug Sarvajanik Utsav Mandal mandal on Wednesday alone, while the Lalbaugcha Raja saw a footfall of 15 lakh over the last two days.