No hiccups for Khairatabad Ganesh immersion

Devotees in large numbers gather along the procession route to catch a glimpse of the idol

Devotees witness the Khairatabad Ganesh idol being immersed in Hussainsagar in Hyderabad on Thursday.

The dawn of Anant Chaturdasi on Thursday saw the city accomplish the challenging task of immersing the 61-foot tall Khairatabad Ganesh idol in Hussainsagar lake.

The Ganesh Utsava Committee, working in tandem with a bunch of utilities, civic and police staff, ensured that there were no hiccups for the yatra . The procession began from Khairatabad at 7.30 a.m. after workers welded the base of the idol and vertical props to the 32-wheel trailer truck brought for the purpose from Vijayawada.

As the day progressed, the crowds who had gathered to catch a glimpse of the idol began to swell. The densely-populated area saw every ledge, terrace and balcony occupied. Some of the residents threw flower petals at the idol from their homes. A few cracked coconuts and offered flowers to Lord Ganesh.

“We have come from BHEL, which is 25 km from here, to watch the

yatra . There was hardly any traffic and it is worth the effort,” said Chandrasekhar Reddy, who had come to pray along with his wife. Maya Agarwal had come with her 40-day-old baby from Adarsh Nagar and stood patiently near the Secretariat building along with her mother to watch the towering idol pass by.

The procession had to slow down near the Telephone Bhavan and Secretariat building as branches of trees came in the way of the Dwadasaditya Maha Ganapathi idol, which was 24-feet wide with multiple heads.

A massive turnout of people compounded with unrestricted traffic movement that created moments of anxiety for the devotees once the idol reached the stretch near Telugu Talli flyover. A part of the barricades erected to control the movement of people gave way opposite the A.P. Secretariat gateway resulting in people leaping across to catch a closer glimpse of the idol.

As the immersion scheduled for noon stretched on till 1.30 p.m., other devotees who had come to immerse their idols, trooped to the immersion site near crane number 6. Amid chants of Ganesh Maharaj Ki Jai , the idol was slowly lowered into the water at 1.39 p.m.

Police officials said about 50 lakh devotees visited Khairatabad to see the Ganesh idol over the past 11 days. About 84 police personnel, including officers, were deployed to ensure an incident-free darshan for the devotees, he added.