Dada's Ganpati

Most Ganesh Mandals are sponsored by either organizations or individuals. Political leaders, housing societies, charitable institutions and youth groups get together and raise money to buy the Ganesh statue (which can cost hundred of thousands of rupees), and usually donate something to charity as well. This mandal, which has been in the neighborhood of Matunga for 54 years, was originally sponsored by Varadarajan Mudaliar, a.k.a. Vardhabhai. Vardhabhai was one of Mumbai's most notorious dadas (gangsters) and is the subject of several Hindi and Tamil "Godfather-like" films. Though he passed away fifteen years ago, his family carries on the tradition. He is memorialized in the photo, which sits almost as prominently as the Ganesh statue.