The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : A saffron tinge on immersion day

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 07, 2006

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

A saffron tinge on immersion day

Staff Reporter

Huge lines of devotees become common throughout the city

THE LAST LEG: People take part in large numbers in the procession of Ganesh idols in the city on Wednesday. -- Photo: Mohd. Yousuf

HYDERABAD: NTR Marg, Tank Bund, Necklace road and the Khairatabad stretch was enveloped in saffron and the air resonated with chants of `Jai Ganapati' as thousands of devotees swarmed Hussainsagar to take part in the annual Ganesh immersion.

Huge lines of devotees became common throughout the day as people jostled with each other to get a glimpse of their idols being immersed in Hussainsagar. `Prasad' was distributed liberally to devotees at various Ganesh pandals en route the procession.

Impromptu jigs

Amidst relentless drumbeats, the devotees broke into impromptu jigs throughout the day. Devotees who sat on large trucks in the procession showered onlookers with flowers and saffron colour, which further electrified the ambience.

Khairatabad Ganesh idol, measuring 40 feet, making it the tallest idol in the city, started its journey at 10 p.m. on Wednesday. With crowd pressure building up, the officials made sure that the idol was lifted on time. They managed to start lifting the idol by 7.30 p.m. "Last year, we had to struggle the whole night and that is why we wanted to start it very early," said Sudarshan, organiser for Khairatabad Ganesh Utsav Committee.

The idol was shifted on to a flat-bed truck with the help of a crane. Going via Telephone Bhavan it was finally immersed near Necklace Road Rotary. It took about four to five hours for the idol to cover the total distance of 2 km.

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Andhra Pradesh