Garuda and Riddhi-Siddhi accompany the lord at Maghi Ganpati celebration

Mumbai: Maghi Ganeshotsav, the festival of Lord Ganesh’s birth, will be celebrated on Friday. The festival is swiftly gaining ground as a parallel Ganeshotsav hosted for five to 10 days. In many sarvajanik mandals, the idols have risen taller than the stipulated 4 feet. Mandals claim that the government’s guidelines “arrived late” by which time their idols were nearly complete.Several prominent Maghi venues are located in the Kandivli-Borivli belt. The Kandivali Cha Shree idol was unveiled on Thursday night. “We have crafted a unique dragon snake setting. Our young moortikar, Siddhesh Dighole, is a JJ School of Art alumnus who trained under the well-known sculptor, Vijay Khatu, for 12 years,” said mandal treasurer Sagar Bamnolikar.This mandal, now in its 10th year, includes a cosmopolitan mix of childhood friends from Mahavir Nagar. "Ours is a non-political festival. Due to Covid restrictions, we sculpted the idol on site and did not organise an aagman sohala,” said Bamnolikar.Sculptor Anil Baing who heads the Maharashtra Moortikar Sangh has crafted a Thailand-style idol for a suburban mandal. On Thursday he despatched the Poisar Cha Mahaganpati flanked by wives Riddhi-Siddhi, apart from sending idols to Kurla, Goregaon, Nallasopara and Virar.Rupesh More, secretary of Shivtej Yuva Maghi Mandal which hosts the Poisar Cha Mahaganpati, said, “Our idol is always based on a different avatar. In the past 10 years, we have crafted Vithu Mauli, Lord Indra and Jai Malhar. This year our idol is seated to adapt to the government's height cap.”The 17-year-old Charkop Cha Raja framed by a giant Garuda arrived at its pandal on Wednesday. Nikhil Gudhekar, who heads the Maghi Ganeshotsav Samanvay Samiti, said they were following all Covid norms. Meanwhile, social media is filled with Maghi Ganesh pictures by mechanical engineer Shardul Sawant. “I started shooting Ganesh idols when I was 14. At that time I didn’t have a DSLR camera and used to click with my mobile phone. Capturing photos of Ganpati idols gives me happiness and remains a cherished memory.”