More than two centuries old, Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai’s Prabhadevi area originally was a small temple of not more than 12 sq feet.
There are government records which indicate that it was on November 19, 1801, the temple was consecrated. However, there is no information on the origins of the idol of the presiding deity. A 2.5 feet idol in black stone with trunk on the right side (usually the Ganesh idols have trunks on the left side) adorns the sanctum sanctorum. The temple did not attract crowds of such magnitude till the 1970s. It was in the seventies that the worshippers visiting the temple increased dramatically. People believe that Siddhivinayak fulfills their prayers and the temple’s devotees include a long list of celebrities from Bollywood.
FOOTFALLS
On an average, about 40,000 devotees throng the temple daily with the numbers swelling to almost one lakh to 1.5 lakh on Tuesdays. However, during Angarki Chaturthi which falls on three days of the year, the temple gets a record 15 lakh devotees with waiting time in the queue as long as 3-4 hours.
CROWD MANAGEMENT
The queue is managed in such a manner that the women and men are segregated with makeshift elevated walkway so that the paths do not intersect. According to trustee Pravin Naik, the temple has one of the best-managed crowd control systems. Besides the 150 security staff, 400 policemen, there are 400 enlisted volunteers whose services are summoned as per requirement. There are about 30 surveillance cameras whose feed is monitored by two control rooms of temple security and police. Besides other basic facilities, the temple also boasts of a hall that could accommodate 5,000 people, solely for the convenience of the breast-feeding mothers.
The temple gets an annual donation of Rs 10-15 crore and has Rs 240 crore as fixed deposit besides other assets such as properties.