The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Idol immersion ceremony passes off peacefully

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 12, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Idol immersion ceremony passes off peacefully

Staff Reporter

Violations seen in height, material used

LORD OF THE DAY: Securitymen mill around a Vinayaka idol on its way to Pattinapakkam beach from Tiruvateeswaranpet in Triplicane. (right) An idol being lifted for immersion at Kasimedu on Sunday — Photo: K.V. Srinivasan, M.Vedhan

CHENNAI: Processions of devotees taking Ganesha idols for immersion in the sea took over some of the city roads on Sunday.

The idol immersion ceremony went off peacefully in the city and in the suburbs with over 10,000 policemen and officers providing a massive security blanket. Festooned auto rickshaws, cycle rickshaws and bullock carts carried images of the elephant god in various sizes, poses and colours. Youngsters wearing ochre headbands and chanting "Jai Ganesha" accompanied them.

The idols made it to the sea in their clay and papier mache `avatars.' Plaster of Paris idols were present despite a court ban and police checks. So were structures that went beyond the specified height of five feet and those coloured with paints made of banned substances.

"We are allowing only those idols adhering to the specifications," maintained a police officer at the Pattinapakkam beach while overseeing two hydraulic cranes methodically lifting the idols and transferring them to the fishermen-turned Friends of Police volunteers.

The police force was on the city roads by 5 a.m. armed with riot gear and some standing behind barricades. "There are nearly 350 of us at Pattinapakkam and more than 100 on the roads nearby," said an officer. Other points of idol immersion were Palkalai Nagar in Palavakkam, Royapuram (Kasimedu) fishing harbour, Tiruvottiyur and Ennore.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader M. Venkaiah Naidu "flagged off" an idol procession from Tiruveteeswaranpet in Triplicane. "This is not a political meeting," he said and reminded the audience about Bal Gangadhar Tilak's effort to bring the "community together" against the British by organising Vinayaka Chathurthi on a mass scale. He urged people to "come together against divisive forces" forgetting regional differences. Expressing concern at the "deep penetration of the bomb culture" in the State, the Hindu Munnani State organiser, Rama Gopalan, urged the police to eliminate it. The Vinayaka Chaturthi celebrations were held to unite Hindus. He thanked Chief Minister Jayalalithaa for the smooth conduct of the immersion of the idols. BJP general secretary G. Kumaravelu was present.

The day ended with the arrest of 45 members of Hindu Munnani who were trying to take out a procession from Triplicane to Ice House.

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