However, over the years, face of the eagerly-awaited festival has changed with the metropolis undergoing profound metamorphosis over the years.
High rises and multi-storeyed buildings have replaced the once thriving 'chawl' system.
Mumbai, once known as a land of 'Girangaon' (mill workers), is no more the same. The old red Mangalore-tiled 'chawls' (row of houses) have given way to multi-storeyed towers and malls on mill lands and the working class and the labour force shifted to suburbs and in neighbouring Thane, thereby somewhat affecting the spirit of the festival.
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Image: A boy standing on top of a human pyramid prepares to break a 'dahi-handi'.
Photograph: Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty Images
Also read: The many moods of Janmashtami
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