After tide delay, Lalbaugcha Raja idol to be immersed around 11 pm today
Lalbaugcha Raja immersion faces hours of delay due to high tide in Mumbai, with thousands of devotees waiting overnight at Girgaon Chowpatty
The iconic Lalbaugcha Raja Ganesh idol was shifted onto a raft on Sunday (September 7) afternoon after delays caused by high tide and technical challenges throughout the morning.
The immersion, delayed by several hours, was expected to take place around 11 pm, officials said, according to news agency PTI. Generally, the Lalbaugcha Raja idol is immersed in the Arabian Sea off Girgaon Chowpatty in south Mumbai before 9 am.
Following several failed attempts, the idol was moved to a raft, eight hours after it arrived at Girgaon Chowpatty and over 28 hours after its grand procession began from Lalbaug on Saturday afternoon.
The high tides, recorded at 4.42 metres at 11.40 am, prompted Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Utsav Mandal functionaries and officials present at the spot to to act cautiously.
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High tide causes delay
Explaining the chain of events since morning, Mandal honorary secretary Sudhir Salavi told reporters that the tide had begun earlier than expected, while the immersion procession arrived 10-15 minutes late.
"We tried to immerse the idol, but soon realised it wasn't working properly, so we decided to stop. Local fishermen advised us that the raft would be able to float during the next high tide, which was expected around 11 pm. The final process of immersion will be carried out at that time," he said.
The water level rose to the waist of the idol, which made the raft unstable and difficult to manoeuvre, officials at the site and Mandal functionaries said.
They said the swift water surge caused a platform carrying the idol to start floating, making it difficult to align it properly with the raft meant to carry the idol into the deeper sea for immersion.
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Thousands of people gather
Speaking to PTI, an official said, "The idol was finally moved from its platform onto a newly constructed raft at 4.45 pm with the help of hundreds of volunteers and fishermen amidst a sea of onlookers."
For about three hours, the idol was in waters a few feet deep, with 15 to 20 volunteers and fishermen trying to maintain its balance, officials said.
The feat elicited wild cheers from the thousands assembled at the site, with chants of Lalbaugcha Rajacha Vijay Aso (Victory to Lalbaugcha Raja), Hi Shaan Konachi? Lalbaugcha Rajachi! (whose glory is this? Lalbaugcha Raja's) and Ganpati Bappa Morya (Hail Ganpati) renting the air, eyewitnesses said.
Lalbaugcha Raja is not just the most patronised idol during the 10-day festival, but its immersion is also an unmissable event for thousands of devotees, who throng the Chowpatty from midnight onwards, waiting for its arrival by sunrise after winding through jam-packed streets of central and south Mumbai.
(With agency inputs)