Hyderabad: Breaking a decades-old tradition, the 58-feet Khairatabad Ganesh idol was immersed on the day of the nimajjanam on Thursday.
The idol began its journey at 8.20 am and took five-and-a-half hours to reach Tank Bund. The immersion started at 1.45 pm and the idol was immersed by 2.30 pm. In the previous years, the giant idol was always the last one to be immersed — often by noon of the second day of the immersions.
Mr Raj Kumar, a member of the Khairatabad Ganesh Utsav Samithi said, “Special pujas to Sakthi Peeta Shiva Nagendra Maha Ganapathi was completed a day earlier. The preparations for the procession was done at midnight. Shifting the idol by crane to the vehicle took a couple of hours.”
Thousands of Ganesh idols were immersed in the city’s outskirts at Saroornagar lake, IDL Cheruvu, Hasmathpet, Pragathinagar, Sunnam Cheruvu, Gangaram Cheruvu, Palle Cheruvu and Pattikunta.
GHMC has deployed 5,793 workers for round-the-clock sweeping and garbage removal. Basic facilities like water supply and prasad vitharan were arranged by NGOs and the government.
Students have their idol stolen
Unidentified persons stole a two-and-a-half feet idol installed at Kuntloor on Wednesday night. The idol was set up by students at Istakameshwari Colony in Kuntloor. According to the police, around 15 students, had set up the small idol and after the evening prayers, they went off to sleep.
But on Thursday morning when they came back for the immersion, they found the idol missing. Police officials have launched an inquiry into the incident.
