#Bombayphile Lalbaugcha Raja : How Communal Tension Led To A Tradition

 

Maharashtra’s biggest festival Ganeshutsav will come to an end this week. The highest crowd pulling pandal of Mumbai through the last several decades has been that of Lalbaugcha Raja in the mill district of the central Mumbai. Here is an excerpt from my book “Bombay After Ayodhya” where I wrote about a tradition associated with the festival :

The tall fame of Lalbaug Ka Raja extends till the last day of the festival when the 15 feet tall idol gets pulled out of the pandal for immersion at Girgaon Chowpatty. Lakhs of people participate in this 7-kilometre-long procession, which takes about twenty hours because of the swarm of people throughout. The procession passes through some of the most congested areas of South and Central Mumbai, including a few communally sensitive patches. A large number of policemen are deployed when the procession crosses the Muslim-dominated localities like Byculla, Nagpada and Do Taki. In 1946, taking note of the communal riots that preceded the festival, the Bombay Police ordered the route of the procession to be altered. However, the organisers refused to obey and insisted on following the traditional route. Ultimately, the immersion procession was taken out ten days later from the same route. ‘The traditional route of the procession is sacrosanct as well because sentiments of people are attached to it,’ said Sudhir Salvi, an office bearer of the pandal.

The tradition of procession continued even during some of the most sensitive times, such as the wars with Pakistan during 1965 and 1971 and the horrifying Hindu-Muslim riots in Bhiwandi during 1984. The year 1993 was perhaps the trickiest one. That year, the Ganeshutsav was celebrated in the aftermath of the deadliest communal riots of Bombay and a series of bomb blasts that shook the country. Sudhir Salvi recollects, ‘The situation was very tense, and we were worried about the consequences when the procession would pass from the Muslim-dominated areas. Then a Muslim social worker named Jamdar Zariwala came to meet us with people from his community. He said, “Whatever has happened has happened. We want to welcome Lalbaug Ka Raja. When the procession reaches Nagpada junction, all office bearers are invited on our stage. We will welcome you with Shahi Sherbet (royal drink). Let the message of Hindu-Muslim unity go to the world from Bombay.” From that year, it has become a tradition. Muslims welcome Lalbaug Ka Raja and revellers are served Shahi Serbet. Jamdar chacha died few years ago but his son has continued the tradition. The procession passes with no trouble from the Muslim areas. En route to Chowpatty, Lalbaug Ka Raja is welcomed at another location as well by the Muslim populace. When the procession reaches Hindustani Masjid at Byculla, the Raja is garlanded and the Muslim residents distribute sweets.

The procession of Lalbaug Ka Raja is also one of the two religious events in Mumbai, where governmental agencies also participate in an unusual way. When the procession crosses the headquarters of the Mumbai Fire Brigade at Byculla, all the fire engines blare their sirens simultaneously and switch on the beacons to “salute” the Lord. The second tradition relates to the fifteenth century Sufi Saint Makhdoom Ali Mahimi’s shrine at Mahim. During the annual urs or fair organised in December every year, the policemen sing and dance in the procession and enjoy the first right to pay their respects at the saint’s tomb. Makhdoom Ali Baba is famous as ‘the Saint of Police’ and it is believed that the policemen have been able to solve several complicated cases with his blessings.

Coming back to the Lalbaug Ka Raja, by the time his procession reaches Girgaon Chowpatty, it is 6 or 7 am of the following day. Colourful boats of fishers surround the idol and extend final salutations to the Lord. The idol is gently pulled into the deep waters of the Arabian Sea and immersed.   

(Bombayphile is published weekly where Jitendra Dixit writes about the past and present of Mumbai.)