With COVID-19 restrictions in place, it was an eco-friendly Ganesh puja for Vizagites. Dressed in traditional attire, devotees performed puja and celebrated the festival with fun and gaiety at home.
While many made idols on their own, and painted them with eco-friendly colours, others worshipped idols made with turmeric.
Residents of various apartments also celebrated the festival by installing 3-foot high idols and organising special prayers on Sunday evening for collective good.
Social media was flooded with messages as people wished their loved ones. A few pandals were set up in interior areas of rural areas and police had asked to take them off and urged them to celebrate the festival indoors.
“It is true that we missed a lot of fun. Having a pandal in the colony makes a Ganesh puja special. However we celebrated the festival in our homes. We prepared different delicacies and exchanged them. By evening, we went to Beach Road and spent time with friends,” said K. Avinash, a resident of Madhurawada area.
A large number of people took part in the Ganesh immersion programme on Sunday morning and evening. People along with their family members came to the beach, where they took part in the immersion ceremony. Jodugullapalem, Tenneti Park, Sagar Nagar, stretch near Rushikonda, Bheemili, Mudasarlova and a few other water bodies witnessed a number of people coming for immersion of Ganesh idols.
As a measure to keep beaches clean, sanitary staff from the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) stood at the entrance of the beach and sought people to dump flowers wastes, agarbathis, plastic bags in dumpbins and immerse only idols. Local fisherfolk were seen bargaining with people to immerse idols in water as the tides were high.
The youth charged ₹10 for their service.
