15 September,2026 01:13 PM IST | Mumbai | Anushree Gaikwad
The mahaprasad will be served from September 19 to 23, with around 3,000 devotees expected each day. Pic/Special Arrangement
The Parelcha Maharaja Mandal has received approval from the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to serve mahaprasad to up to 20,000 devotees during a five-day community feast during Ganeshotsav 2026.
The mahaprasad will be served from September 19 to 23, with around 3,000 devotees expected each day. The feast will begin at about 8 pm and continue until between 2 am and 4 am, depending on the movement of devotees visiting the Lalbaug-Parel area for Ganpati darshan.
According to mandal president Sujit Chawan, the FDA granted permission for the community feast on September 11.
"During the 12 days of Ganeshotsav, we have the community feast for five days. This year, from September 19 to 23, around 3,000 people will enjoy our mahaprasad every day. In five days, up to 20,000 people will eat our mahaprasad," Chawan said.
The mandal has arranged cooks from Gujarat to prepare the food for the five-day feast. According to Chawan, the food will be prepared without garlic, onion and ginger.
"We arrange cooks from Gujarat who prepare food for our mahaprasad. They prepare the food without garlic, onion and ginger to serve our God and devotees," he said.
The menu will vary across the five days and will include puri or chapati, along with a selection of sweets and savoury items.
Among the sweets to be served are ladoo, gulab jamun, rasgulla and jalebi, while the savoury items will include samosa, aloo wadi and dhokla.
"We provide a variety of food to our devotees every day. If one day we serve puri, on another day we serve chapati," Chawan said, adding that the mandal would maintain food quality and hygiene during the feast.
The approval comes after the Maharashtra FDA introduced new requirements for large-scale food distribution during festivals and religious gatherings.
Under the new guidelines, organisers serving mahaprasad, prasad, bhandara, annachhatra, langar or other community meals must inform the FDA at least seven days before the event.
The directive, issued by FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe, forms part of the department's permanent âFestival Enforcement Calendar', which aims to prevent food poisoning and detect food adulteration during large gatherings.
Organisers are required to submit a prescribed "Collective Food Distribution Prior-Information" form through the FDA's Food and Drug Grievance Portal to the designated officer.
The new requirements come as the FDA has intensified food-safety inspections ahead of the festival season.
On September 9, FDA officials in Thane raided 11 establishments manufacturing or selling farsan, wafers, chiwda, namkeen and other food products in the Bhaskar Compound-Khadi Gaon area of Shil-Diva Road.
The officials seized 28,955 kg and 56 litres of food products and oil worth Rs 20.48 lakh over suspected adulteration and substandard quality. The establishments were also found operating in unhygienic and unsafe conditions.
The licences or registrations of all 11 establishments were suspended, and the units were ordered to stop operations.
With large numbers of devotees expected in the Lalbaug-Parel area during Ganeshotsav, the Parelcha Maharaja Mandal will serve its FDA-approved mahaprasad over five days from September 19 to 23.
