20 September,2026 12:02 PM IST | Mumbai | Debjani Paul
Devotees celebrating Ganeshotsav at Ganesh Math Mandir, Karachi
Nearly a thousand kilometres from Mumbai, the caramelly-coconutty aroma of modaks and chants of "Ganpati Bappa Morya" rise across the border too, all the way in Karachi, Pakistan.
There, 28-year-old Amar Parkash's family is among 60-odd Maratha clans that have historically lived in the port city and chose to stay back during the Partition. These families still observe Maratha customs, including Gudi Padwa, Ganesh Chaturthi, and even Ganesh Jayanti.
At the centre of their celebrations is the Ganesh Math Mandir, a temple that was established by the Maratha community long before the Partition, when they lived there in much greater numbers. It is now a living piece of history preserved by three generations of Parkash's family. Parkash, a software engineer, has gone viral on social media (@theamarparkash) with his videos of Ganeshotsav festivities.
Amar Parkash
"This temple has been here since the 1940s. I have heard stories about how, before Partition, everyone used to come together and dance in front of the temple during Ganesh Chaturthi," says Parkash, "During the Partition, my family decided to stay back here. We have kept the legacy of the temple and our culture alive for the past three generations."
Once a small, open-air shrine in one of Karachi's oldest neighbourhoods, Gazdarabad, Ganesh Math Mandir has been renovated by the family into a full-fledged temple that can accommodate up to 150 devotees. Bappa's murti too, has been updated.
"Back then, the murti was made of chikni mitti [clay], but in 2007, we commissioned a new marble murti from Pune," says Parkash. The idol was sculpted in the likeness of Pune's famous Dagdusheth Ganpati, including the deity's twice-curled trunk. "This murti was carved from a single block of white marble, and weighs 80 kg," says Parkash.
Getting it to Karachi a year later was a struggle, though, with India-Pakistan relations at a low following the 26/11 attacks. "It was held on the ship for almost two months because officials wanted to check if anything was hidden inside the idol. We told them the murti was carved from one block of marble, so there was no way to put anything inside, or to open and check it," Parkash recalls.
Finally, an influential Parsi family came to their aid. Ava Cowasjee, the daughter of Ardeshir Cowasjee, shipping magnate, social activist, and columnist in the Dawn newspaper, intervened with the authorities and persuaded them to clear the idol. "The Cowasjee family helped us bring the murti home. Later, Ardeshir Cowasjee also visited our temple," says Parkash.
Nearly two decades later, this year, it's a Muslim artisan who has offered his service to Bappa. "Each year, we get the murti touched up before the festival, because this is Bappa's time. But marble is much harder to colour than clay. Every year, we'd struggle to find someone who was up to the challenge. Then my father found this Muslim artisan who was more than happy to do it. His ancestors had been painting temples and murtis for generations before the Partition," says Parkash.
His video about this, titled "Kaun Hindu? Kaun Muslim?" got 1.7 lakh views on Instagram. This communal harmony can be seen throughout the festival at the temple, where Hindus and non-Hindus alike come for darshan. "There is police protection outside the mandir for both Ganesh Chaturthi and Ganesh Jayanti, just as a precaution. But in all these years, there has never been any untoward incident. We celebrate Bappa while still being mindful of other communities. For example, during Bappa's agman and visarjan processions, we don't play the dhol during the azaan. And many non-Hindus come for darshan and have prasad too," he shares.
Prasad there, he tells us, looks much like it does here in Mumbai: modak, karanji, puri, sheera, dal, bhaat, papad, mirchi, shrikhand. About 800-1000 people visit each day through the seven days of festivities observed at the temple and the bhandar tent outside. After that, devotees take the utsav murti - a three-foot idol that is sourced locally in Karachi - to the 200-year-old Shri Laxmi Narayan Mandir for visarjan at the banks of Chinna Creek.
Parkash has grown up seeing Ganeshotsav celebrations at other Karachi temples, such as the Laxmi Narayan temple and Shree Ratneshwar Mahadev Temple. The dream now is to reconnect with his roots in Maharashtra. "My father has been to Mumbai and Pune and seen Ganesh Chaturthi festivities there. He has told me so much about it, and shown me so many pictures. Aamchi ichha aahe ki ek divas India madhye jaun Ganesh Chaturthi celebrate karu, ani toh kasa astoy ha experience karu."
Marathi people's presence in modern-day Pakistan dates back to the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761, when captives from the Maratha army were taken to Balochistan. They eventually assimilated into the local religion and culture, but have held on to some traditions. The 2023 film Baloch portrays this forgotten history.
However, the Hindu Marathas in Karachi are a distinct community that settled in the port city during the British Raj, when Sindh was part of the Bombay Presidency. Their occupation was mostly trade and administrative jobs. Post-Partition, most of them moved to Mumbai and elsewhere in Maharashtra.
1000
Number of people who visit the temple through the festivities
