14 September,2026 06:41 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
The Ganesh festival began across Mumbai on Monday amid traditional celebrations. File Pic/Manjeet Thakur
Mumbai's prominent Ganesh mandals are spending crores of rupees on this year's Ganeshotsav 2026, with budgets covering pandal construction, decorations, security, crowd management and facilities for lakhs of devotees.
The Ganesh festival began across Mumbai on Monday amid traditional celebrations. With inflation pushing up the cost of materials and services, several mandals have increased their budgets this year.
According to the ANI, the Chinchpokli Sarvajanik Utsav Mandal, which organises the popular Chinchpokli Cha Chintamani, has set an overall budget of around Rs 2 crore this year.
According to treasurer Atul Kerkar, rising costs could push the final expenditure to around Rs 2.25 crore.
The mandal is celebrating its 107th year since its establishment in 1920.
Kerkar said inflation has resulted in the festival budget increasing every year. The pandal alone is expected to cost around Rs 50 lakh, the news agency reported.
Corporate advertisements and sponsorships are among the key sources of funding for the Ganeshotsav celebrations.
According to the ANI, Kerkar said several companies support the mandal every year and noted that the Adani Group is among the sponsors this year. However, he did not disclose the total amount collected through advertisements.
The mandal also follows a long-standing tradition of not putting a price on its Ganesh idol.
The Chinchpokli Cha Chintamani idol is crafted by sculptor Siddhesh Digha.
Kerkar said the mandal does not assign a monetary value to the idol. Instead, the sculptor receives an annual honorarium, or dakshina, in keeping with the committee's tradition.
The Lalbaug Sarvajanik Utsav Mandal, which organises Mumbaicha Raja at Ganesh Gully, also spends a significant portion of its advertising collections on public welfare and arrangements for devotees, as per the ANI.
President Kiran Tawde said around 80 to 85 per cent of the total advertising collection is spent directly on welfare initiatives and facilities, as per the ANI.
These include blood donation camps, healthcare programmes and arrangements for devotees visiting the mandal.
Ganesh Gully has been recreating famous Indian temples as part of its festival decorations for the past 25 years.
This year, the mandal has created a decorative theme inspired by the Chintpurni temple associated with the Vaishnav tradition.
The elaborate decorations are expected to attract large numbers of visitors during the festival.
With lakhs of devotees expected to visit the city's major mandals, crowd management and security remain a major part of the Ganesh festival arrangements.
At Chinchpokli, private security agencies have been hired and separate entry and exit routes have been created across three connecting lanes.
At Ganesh Gully, around 6,000 volunteers have been deployed in shifts, alongside police personnel, Home Guards and private security guards, following Mumbai Police guidelines, reported the ANI.
More than 100 CCTV cameras have also been installed to monitor the area.
Kerkar said between 1 lakh and 1.07 lakh devotees are expected to visit the Chinchpokli Cha Chintamani pandal for darshan.
With major Ganesh mandals attracting large crowds throughout the 10-day festival, organisers are focusing on balancing elaborate celebrations with public safety and crowd management.
(with ANI inputs)
