Every day, Ganeshotsav is celebrated in a lavish manner across many parts of the city, where thousands of devotees visit different mandals in Mumbai, to seek blessings from the beloved Bappa. However, due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, some mandals are reconsidering the decision to celebrate the festival this year. In a recent decision, Wadala's popular Goud Saraswat Brahmin (GSB) Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samiti has decided to cancel this year's celebrations, keeping the coronavirus outbreak in mind.
On Monday, May 25, the team from GSB Wadala announced the decision stating that the mandal's Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations have been postponed now to February 2021 during Maghi Ganeshotsav.
The team of the 66-year-old GSB Wadala mandal usually invite devotees to seek blessings for 10 days during the festival and this is considered to be one of the richest mandals in Mumbai. Talking about the same, Ulhas Kamat, President of the GSB Wadala mandal, said that it will be difficult to manage devotees this year as the team will have to follow social distancing norms as defined by WHO. While lakhs of people visit every year, the safety of the devotees will have to be considered as people will have to maintain at least 6 feet distance.
Since this would be difficult, the team has decided that the celebrations will now be held during Maghi Maghi Ganesh Chaturthi which will begin on February 15, 2021. The preparations for the same will begin in November 2020.
However, other mandals may continue with their plans to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi as scheduled from August 22, 2020.
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