Immersion Passes off Peacefully, To Continue Overnight
Thousands of idols were immersed at 141 sites amid tight security and elaborate arrangements
Hyderabad: Ganesha idol immersions continued overnight across Hyderabad on Friday, with thousands of idols queued up at 141 immersion sites, including Hussainsagar, Saroornagar, IDL and Shamirpet lakes. The immersions were expected to continue into Saturday.
The Khairatabad Bada Ganesh idol was immersed at 2.40 pm, while the Balapur Ganesh idol, which leads the main procession, was immersed around 4.30 pm, both from the NTR Marg side. The 72-foot-tall Ganesh idol at Nagole, the tallest this year, underwent immersion at the site, with fire tenders used to dissolve the clay. The clay was distributed among devotees.
The immersions were held amid tight security and elaborate civic arrangements. Traffic flowed smoothly on the roads outside the Ganesh immersion zone.
From Friday morning, major procession routes, including Mozamjahi Market, Charminar and Telangana Talli Flyover, witnessed a steady movement of vehicles carrying idols. Devotees accompanied the processions with drums, music, chants of “Ganpati Bappa Morya” and distribution of prasadam. Several participants wore colour-coordinated traditional attire and pagdis.
Families also joined the processions, carrying idols on car bonnets and playing music from vehicles and Bluetooth speakers. Thousands of families, including children, gathered at Tank Bund to witness the immersions.
Food and snacks were distributed to devotees at several places along the procession routes.
P. Tirupati, who was among those distributing food, told Deccan Chronicle that his group had been doing so for five years. Some families also set up stages outside residential and commercial buildings to distribute snacks to procession participants.
Transport minister Ponnam Prabhakar, accompanied by senior police, municipal and district administration officials, conducted an aerial survey of the procession routes and security arrangements.
With the immersion processions coinciding with Friday prayers at mosques, Hyderabad police deployed around 20,000 personnel for bandobast. More than 10,000 CCTV cameras along the major procession routes were linked to the Telangana Integrated Command and Control Centre (TGICCC) at Banjara Hills.
Police also deployed 24 drones and nearly 100 high-rise cameras for surveillance and crowd monitoring. Around 40 cranes were positioned at Hussainsagar, while teams patrolled the lake in boats.
Several unusual Ganesh idols drew attention during the processions. These included a display resembling railway compartments with idols in each section, an idol depicting Lord Ganesha on Garuda, and idols made of soya chunks and dry fruits. Laddu auctions were another feature of the celebrations. The Balapur laddu fetched Rs 39 lakh, while the laddu at Keerthi Richmond Villas in Bandlaguda Jagir was auctioned for Rs 1.01 crore.
