12 September,2026 04:48 PM IST | Mumbai | Ronak Mastakar
In Girgaon, Kalbadevi, Bhuleshwar, and parts of Byculla, Ganpati celebrations once spilled out of chawls and into narrow lanes. File Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
Mumbai's Ganeshotsav has always been about more than the idols. In the older areas of South Mumbai, it was about the community, the lanes, and the buildings that brought generations together.
In Girgaon, Kalbadevi, Bhuleshwar, and parts of Byculla, Ganpati celebrations once spilled out of chawls and into narrow lanes. Doors remained open, children moved freely between homes, and the local mandals were often the meeting point for an entire neighbourhood.
That Mumbai is changing.
Old chawls are giving way to redevelopment projects and high-rises. While the new buildings offer better homes and facilities, many residents feel that something less tangible has been lost - the closeness that once defined their neighbourhoods.
"Earlier, everyone knew each other. During Ganeshotsav, you didn't have to call people [for the celebrations]. They were already downstairs," said 82-year-old South Mumbai homemaker Yashwanti M.
In Girgaon, where Ganeshotsav has long been closely woven into the fabric of chawl life, the festival was as much about community as it was about devotion, Yashwanti said.
"Ganeshotsav in Girgaon was never just about bringing the idol home. The entire chawl would come together - from putting up the decoration to organising the aarti and visarjan. Today, redevelopment has changed the way people live, and naturally, that has changed how people come together too," Yashwanti added.
The difference is particularly noticeable during Ganeshotsav. In a chawl, residents shared corridors, courtyards, and common spaces. The festival naturally became a collective affair. In a high-rise, hundreds of people may live in the same building without necessarily knowing each other.
"Now you can live in the same building for years and barely know your neighbour. Earlier, the whole building was like one family," said 39-year-old Girgaon resident Milind Vanarse, who works as a manager in a private company.
Redevelopment has also changed the physical backdrop of Ganeshotsav.
For older residents, the familiar buildings around a mandal are part of the memory. A particular balcony, shop, or lane may bring back memories of childhood celebrations.
"Sometimes I look at the new buildings and think, where is the Mumbai I grew up in?" said Vanarse, a resident who has spent decades in the area. "The Ganpati festival is the same, but everything around it has changed."
The impact is also visible in Lalbaug, one of the city's most recognisable Ganeshotsav hubs, where generations of residents have grown up alongside some of Mumbai's most famous mandals.
"Lalbaug has changed enormously, but the Ganpati festival still gives people a reason to come together. The challenge is that the old neighbourhood spaces are disappearing. When people don't have those everyday spaces to meet, the festival has to work harder to bring the community together," said a 45-year-old Lalbaug mandal organiser, who did not wish to be named.
The festival itself, however, has not lost its popularity. If anything, Mumbai's larger mandals have become bigger attractions, drawing visitors from across the city. But the growing focus on the city's famous Ganpatis and elaborate decorations has also changed the nature of the celebration.
"Earlier, our Ganpati was the event. Now people want to visit five or six famous mandals. The local festival has become smaller in comparison," said 39-year-old Abhishek Tondankar, treasurer of the 5th Kumbharwada Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal in Girgaon.
Yet perhaps this is simply another phase in Mumbai's long relationship with Ganeshotsav.
The city has changed before, and the festival has changed with it. The challenge today is not to stop redevelopment but to ensure that the communities that give the festival its meaning do not disappear with the old buildings.
"Buildings can be redeveloped, but the community has to be rebuilt too," said Tondankar.
That may be the real void emerging in South Mumbai. It is not the absence of Ganpati, nor the absence of celebration.
It is the gradual disappearance of the shared spaces and everyday relationships that once made Ganeshotsav feel like a celebration of one large family.
The skyline may be getting taller. But for many Mumbaikars, the city around Ganpati is no longer quite as close-knit as it once was.
