Allow 14-foot tall Ganpati idol: Mumbai GSB Seva Mandal to CM

The GSB Seva Mandal based in King's Circle area of Mumbai has asked Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for permission to retain the height of its Ganesh idol at the traditional 14 feet.

The GSB Seva Mandal based in King's Circle area of Mumbai has asked Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for permission to retain the height of its Ganesh idol at the traditional 14 feet. Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations are scheduled to begin on August 22.

Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the state has asked organisations that install such idols to curtail the height to four feet and scale down celebrations so as to adhere to social distancing norms and lockdown orders. In a statement, GSB Seva Mandal trustee RG Bhat said change in height would create hurdles as the eco-friendly idol is adorned with pre-moulded gold and silver jewellery.

The statement said there would be no immersion of the idol this time and darshan for devotees would be online while prasad distribution would be through e-commerce platforms. The idol is made of pure clay at the venue itself and the immersion will be in an artificial pond, with "minimum or negligible involvement of people", he said.

All social distancing standards will be maintained, and no crowd or darshan will be allowed, he added. He said a letter has been sent to CM Thackeray with a request to allow the idol to be 14 feet tall.

Organisers of Lalbaugcha Raja, arguably the city's most famous Ganeshotsav festivity, have already announced that they would be cancelling celebrations this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic while Wadala's GSB Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samiti has postponed it for February next year..

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)