Mumbai bids farewell to Lord Ganesha

Shiv Kumar

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Tribune News Service

Mumbai, September 5

The 12-day Ganeshotsav festival came to an end on Tuesday with the devotees immersing the idols of Lord Ganesha in the sea across Maharashtra.

Since early morning, hundreds of processions carrying idols of the elephant-headed god made there way to the sea where huge cranes winched them onto barges which ferried them for immersion deeper in the sea.

Some of the bigger idols from the more prominent ‘mandals’ in the city like Ganesh Gully and Lalbaugcha Raja at Parel in central Mumbai, which attracted lakhs of devotees through the 12-day festival, were still being taken in processions before being immersed at around midnight.

According to Naresh Dahibhavkar, president of Brihan Mumbai Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samanvay Samiti (BSGSS), nearly 300 huge idols were installed in public places this year.

The authorities had prescribed a height limit of 18-feet for the idols so that trucks carrying them could pass under bridges on their way to the immersion.

In the interiors of Maharashtra, devotees brought the Ganesh idols from their homes for immersion in lakes and rivers.

This year was the 125th anniversary of the celebrations of the Ganesh festival which was first used as a platform by Bal Gangadhar Tilak to mobilise people against the British Raj.

Mumbai police said they were expecting more than 7,600 idols installed at public places to be immersed today.

According to a police spokesperson, more than 40,000 police personnel were on the road as part of the arrangement to ensure smooth and safe immersion of the idols.

The authorities deployed helicopters and drones as part of the security measures during the immersions.

Mumbai’s entire beachfront has been floodlit as part of the safety measures, police and fire officials said.

Like in earlier years, the police had got organisers of Ganeshotsav celebrations to stagger the immersion of the idols over the last 12 days as part of security measures.

Several smaller idols were immersed in the third and fifth day of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.