Prominent mandals take their own time

The first of the five manache Ganapatis,Kasba Ganpati,was started from Tilak statue in Mandai and reached Alka Talkies junction at 1.20 pm. But the mandal members decided not to proceed for immersion until Mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale came for the formal welcoming of the ganesh mandal. With no signs of her arrival even after waiting for 20 minutes,the Kasba ganpati mandal decided to move ahead sulking and condemning the mayor for delaying the procession.

The third manacha ganapati,Guruji Talim,took yet another hour to reach Alka Junction. The mandal had prepared a Sadguru-Bhakti chariot to carry the Ganesh idol. The mandal volunteers stayed away from using gulal during the immersion procession,as they had promised earlier. It was followed by Tulshibaug ganpati that reached the junction at around 4 pm and was accompanied by dhol-tasha and flag-dance troops of Swa-roopvardhini.

The Kesariwada Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal stuck to its tradition of taking the alternative Tilak Road route thus reducing congestion on Laxmi Road. In its 116th year,the mandal ganapati was accompanied by Shriram troop of dhol-tasha.

Besides these five,the famous Akhil Mandai mandal ganpati and Dagdusheth Halwai ganpati were immersed between 4 am and 5 am.