19 September,2026 11:33 AM IST | Mumbai | The Guide Team
(From left) A view of the murti at the pandal; entrance to the Keshavji Naik Chawl. Pics/Ashish Raje
Ganeshotsav is less a celebration and more a feeling that settles into every room at the 133-year-old Keshavji Naik Chawl on Khadilkar Road. When we drop by, the first person we meet is Dinesh Joshi, a chef at the Taj Group, who has lived here for 40 years. Residents make it a point to be at home during Ganeshotsav. "This festival is the heart of our chawl; we don't move out of our pandal during these days," he says.
The décor is simple, but the devotion is immersive. Children arrive with large plates of prasad, learn stotras and participate in storytelling, rangoli-making, vyayam (exercise) and other competitions. Residents of all ages also come together for their orchestra, guided by music professionals from within the chawl.
There is a deliberate restraint to loud celebrations at the chawl. While Ganpati festivities elsewhere have embraced bigger stages and louder spectacles, the chawl keeps its celebrations free of corporate sponsorships, DJs, and flashing lights, holding on to a quieter idea of how Ganeshotsav traditionally was celebrated.
Those who have moved away return every year to seek Bappa's blessings. Sometimes, during the aarti, the emotion gets so overwhelming that people are unable to continue, with tears streaming down their face. "We trust Ganpati. Everyone in the chawl has a lot of faith in him. He is showering his blessings on all of us," says Joshi.
With the chawl heading in for redevelopment, the familiar architecture may disappear, but not the memories attached to it. "Only the aesthetics will change. The values will remain," he assures us.
AT 5, Dadamaharaj Wadi, Khadilkar Road, Girgaon, Charni Road East.
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Keshavji Naik Chawl is home to Mumbai's first Sarvajanik Ganpati, which was installed here in 1893. Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak later visited in 1901, followed by many other personalities from Vinayak Damodar Savarkar to Sachin Tendulkar
The air at the 126-year-old Shantaram Chawl in Mangal Wadi, during Ganesh Chaturthi, carries more than the sound of aarti. It carries memories passed down generations of children waiting for modaks, families gathering through the night and a community that has grown around its beloved Bappa.
Sachin Phadke, a committee member and resident for 52 years, still remembers the childhood excitement of waiting for the maha aarti and the tempting modaks that followed. "Even after all these years, everything is still the same," he says. The pandal is never left unattended, with devotees visiting through the night. The festival has been carried across generations, where the chawl retains its modest 2.5-foot seated idol.
For Anagha Bedekar of the famous Bedekar Pickle family, who is also the chairperson, the responsibility now is to ensure that this inheritance reaches the children. "The tradition should remain intact; we cannot compromise with that," she says. This year's theme âSantaparant', explores the teachings of the Warkari saints through handmade, eco-friendly decorations, fusion kirtans and bhajans, with children dressed as Sant Tukaram, Sant Dnyaneshwar, and other Warkari saints.
Twice a day, homes willingly offer the naivedya thali, a sacred food offering to the idol. In Shantaram Chawl, tradition survives not because it is merely remembered, but because it is lived and
lovingly passed on.
AT Mangal Wadi, Girgaon, Charni Road East.
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In 1918, nearly 15,000 people gathered at Shantaram Chawl to bid farewell to Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, with Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Mahatma Gandhi's presence
