If the history of Lalbaugcha Raja is to be told, it cannot begin and end with just the Kambli family. Long before the idol-making legacy became synonymous with this one name, several other artisan families were entrusted with the responsibility of creating the iconic murti.

One such family is the Bagwe family, who made Lalbaugcha Raja from 1990 to 1996 — a seven-year association that has largely remained out of the spotlight. “I still remember, just a few weeks before Ganesh Chaturthi, the Lalbaug’s committee members called me around 1.30 am and asked if I would be able to make the idol for that year. Considering that the Kamblis had the monopoly, I tried asking the reason for their request. They simply said that I should not interfere in those matters, and the next day, when I visited the mandal’s office, they just asked me one more time. I said yes. But even till today I do not know what had exactly happened at the time,” said Manohar Bagwe, one of the three brothers who made the idol in 1990.