A Reddit user from Surat has shared a painful experience of visiting Lalbaugcha Raja for Charan Darshan. What was meant to be a spiritual journey turned into chaos due to mismanagement and lack of basic facilities, according to the user.
The younger sister suffered a head injury in the uncontrolled crowd. The mother’s kurti was torn, and she narrowly escaped a deep cut after being violently pushed by staff.
Their father fainted inside due to suffocation. Yet, neither the Mandal organisers nor the Mumbai Police provided water or medical help. Nobody even cleared the crowd.
“Celebrities get peaceful darshan with the entire mandap cleared for them. Ordinary devotees who travel miles in faith are treated like cattle,” the user wrote.
The family had to leave without darshan because of the father’s condition.
“It’s shocking that, despite crores in donations every year, there’s no basic crowd control, drinking water, or medical aid. Devotees deserve better than this. Shameful,” the poster concluded.
“Lord left that place long ago; people should, too,” commented one Reddit user.
Another user echoed similar sentiments, “Bappa has left long ago. That’s just a business now. I am sorry if I hurt anyone, but that’s reality. It has become a status symbol now. Forgive me, Bappa, but those Lal Baug people are no devotees of you, only the money they earn in your name.”
“If OP saw how VIP versus peasant queues had been treated at these worship places over the past few years, they’d have perhaps skipped the visit altogether,” posted another.
“Even after seeing that, if people are still going there, why go to such a place?” wondered another.
Another user remarked, “This mandap has zero significance. You should pray and celebrate at the local Ganesh Temple. Ganpati Bappa Morya.”
“When will people learn that God doesn’t reside in places like these? What kind of life change do you guys expect after these ‘Darshan’. Do some social work instead to get good karma. All temples and religious events are more entertainment venues than spiritual experiences. It’s akin to going to a theme park,” came from another.
Janhvi Kapoor at Lalbaugcha Raja
On August 27, several Bollywood stars visited the famous Lalbaugcha Raja pandal for blessings. Among them were Param Sundari stars Janhvi Kapoor and Sidharth Malhotra.
Janhvi looked visibly uncomfortable in the heavy crowd until Sidharth protectively shielded her.
“Relate to what Jhanvi is feeling in a crowd. In fact, most of the females would relate to this,” commented one user.