What is Aagman Sohala ?

Aagman Sohala is a Marathi word and the meaning of the word Aagman means welcoming and Sohala means a festive occasion. Ganesh Chaturthi was formerly celebrated at the homes during the Peshwa’s era but the carnival that we witness is all because of Lokmanya Tilak who made it a public festival also known as the Sarva Jannik Utsav. It was he who ignited the fire in the hearts of the Marathas to bridge the gap between the Brahmins and the non-Brahmins and ever since that day this festival is celebrated with loads of happiness and joys In today’s date Ganesh Chaturthi has managed to lure in all the Mumbaikars for the celebrations as well as the tourists around the world.

This has encouraged every Mandal (community) to do better than the previous years and even trigger the competitive spirit. To start the decorations and the positioning of the Ganpati’s Idol in proper place, preparations start a week prior or earlier than that. The community members start off early morning or late evening as per their ease to avoid the traffic in the area and a Saturday and the Sunday is preferred to attract more crowd for the Aagman Sohala.

Each Mandal comes at the workshop from where they have ordered the Ganpati idol and sets off along with the idol towards their respective mandal.

The Central Railway Locomotive Workshop turns into the Ganpati idol making workshop from June until the day of Ganesh Chaturthi.

This is also a famous workshop known for making artistic Ganpatis throughout Mumbai and Maharashtra. Each year the artist, the sculptor, the decorator puts in the efforts that are greater and challenging to them. I would also like to give my heartiest thanks to the famous Ganesh idol sculptor Mr. Vijay Khatu who passed away on 30 July 2017. We Mumbaikars thank him for his contribution and dedication towards this festival.

Above information was taken from https://danisiareaches.wordpress.com/2017/08/20/aagman-sohala-2017/

Before Aagman Sohala pictures, here are some pictures of Ganesh idol in making –

I visited the Parel workshop before Aagman and even on Aagman of some idols. There are hoardings outside the workshop for information of which idol’s Aagman is on which date and time. Everyone is allowed inside the workshop. Even you can go one day and click pictures or just admire the work, no one stops you. 😀 🙂

Now here are some of the glimpses of the Aagman Sohala 2018.

As the number of mandals and idols are increasing, it becomes difficult to visit every area and see every idol. So here at workshop you can see different ganesh idols before they reach their respective mandals. From pictures you can see how huge is Aagman Sohala these days. They celebrate it with smoke bombs, confetti, dhol etc.

Some Idols are so huge in height that some parts of idol are made flexible so that they can easily come out of workshop. Like these chairs are flexible easy to transport from the workshop to their mandals.

Wadala Cha Maharaja 

In next few images you will see the crowd that was gattered to see Parel cha Raja’s Aagman Sohala !!

I was astonised to see so many people for the Aagman Sohala. Mandals are promoting their Aagman Shohala dates. Some mandals have even started competition for pictures and videography during Aagman Sohala. That’s why you can see many cameras and video cameras trying to capture each and every moment of Aagman Sohala while struggling to stay steady in such a huge crowd. One push from one side and the whole crowd goes haywire. It was so difficult to capture these images and stay steady in one place.

Below are some pictures and videos of my colony’s Ganpati Aagman Sohala !! 😀 🙂