Ganpati Visarjan at Sabarmati River in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. (Source: Express Photo/Javed Raja)
Devotees across Mumbai and other parts of India gathered to take part in the immersion processions of the Ganesh idols as the 10-day-long festival, which began on August 25, ends on ‘Anant Chaturdashi’ today. People thronged in large numbers to bid farewell to the idols of the elephant-headed God. Among the most popular locations, the Ganesh Galli Mandal and Lalbaughcha Raja attracted lakhs of devotees during the Ganesh festival.
Ganesh Visarjan 2017 highlights:
8:58 pm:
Ganesh idols arrive at Sursagar lake in Vadodara for immersions on Anant chaturdashi on Tuesday (Express photo by Bhupendra Rana)
8:35 pm: Lord Ganesha also took on the role of promoting road safety among the residents in Hyderabad.
Procession of miniature Ganesha idols donning helmets in order to create awareness, taken out in Hyderabad. (Source: ANI)
8:21 pm: Another youth has reportedly died after being stabbed during Ganesh Visarjan in Madhya Pradesh’s Shajapur. Police investigation is on according to news agency ANI.
8:05 pm:
Ganapati Immersion at Mhad in Mumbai (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)
7:59 pm: A youth drowned while immersing a Ganesha idol in the Chambal river in Rajasthan’s Kota district. Two others who fell along with him were rescued.
7:53 pm: Telangana Home Minister Naini Narshimha Reddy undertook an aerial survey in Hyderabad to inspect Ganesha immersions according to ANI.
7:33 pm: Three persons were killed after they drowned during Ganesh idol immersion in the Shivnai lake near Bidkin in Aurangabad district in Maharashtra according to PTI.
7:29 pm: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan was also seen at Bhopal’s Prempura ghat
7:05 pm: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has reported that a total of 3742 Ganesha idol immersions took place in artificial lakes. The areas mentioned are Sarvajanik with 80, Gharguti with 3607 and Gouri with 30 according to PTI.
6:59 pm: Devotees have come out in large numbers to participate in the immersion of Hyderabad’s 57 feet tall Khairtabad Ganesh.
Khairtabad Ganesh in Hyderabad (Source: ANI)
6:39 pm: People have gathered in large number in Mumbai’s chowpatty to bid farewell to Lord Ganesha.
Ganesh idol immersion from Mumbai’s Girgaum chowpatty. (Source: ANI)
5:33 pm: Meanwhile in Pune, Shivaji road, Ganesh Road, Laxmi Road, Tilak Road, Bajirao Road have been closed keeping in mind the processions that will be taken out. The roads will remain close till the end of procession tomorrow.
5:20 pm:
Trustees of Hindustan masjid, Bhiwandi welcome the Ganapati mandals during procession by offering flowers & water #GaneshVisarjan pic.twitter.com/gu2OPjpj0B
— Thane City Police (@ThaneCityPolice) September 5, 2017
5:15 pm: Western Railways will also run eight special trains between Churchgate and Vihar
Source: Twitter/ Mumbai Railway Users
5:03 pm: The Central Railway will run eight special local trains on September 9, 2017 to help the devotees who took part in the procession. These special locals will stop at all stations between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus – Kalyan/Thane on Main Line and between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus – Panvel on Harbour line.
Source: Twitter/ Central Railway
5:00 pm: The ‘laddu prasad’ (religious offering of a sweet) at a Ganesh pandal in Balapur on the outskirts of Hyderabad fetched a whopping 15.60 lakh in an open auction today. The auction is conducted every year on the last day of the ‘Vinayaka Chaviti’ festivities before the idol of Lord Ganesh is taken for immersion according to a report in PTI.
4:48 pm: Veer Savarkar Marg from Siddhi Vinayak to Mahim has been closed because of the ongoing procession.
4:38 pm:
#Traffic guidelines on the #GaneshVisarjan routes today #PrayInPeace pic.twitter.com/ET7m7zP01L
— Thane City Police (@ThaneCityPolice) September 5, 2017
4:05 pm: As many as 9,000 BMC employees are working in Mumbai to oversee the immersion. Prime locations for immersion are Girgaon Chowpatty, Juhu beach, Powai lake, Dadar Chowpatty, Madh jetty and Marve in Malad.
Ganesh Visarjan celebration in Ahmedabad. (Express photo by Javed Raja)
3:10 pm: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis too participated in the festivity. He immersed Ganesha idol in an artificial pond at his residence.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis (Source: Twitter/ CMO Maharashtra)
1.00 pm: Mumbai police shared traffic guidelines and diversions in the wake of Ganpati immersion today.
12.55 pm: Supreme Court on Monday had restored the Central government’s notification empowering the state government to declare certain areas as silence zones – free from noise pollution. This means that Mumbikars are likely to have a noisy visarjan.
12.50 pm: Meanwhile in Hyderabad, immersion of Ganesh idols was underway in the Hussain Sagar lake and other water bodies in the city, marking conclusion of the 11-day ‘Vinayaka Chaviti’ festival.
12.45 pm: Security has been beefed up ahead of the visarjan and companies of the State Reserve Police Force have been deployed. A police official told PTI that cranes, watchtowers, drones, CCTVs and floodlights have been arranged to keep a watch on every movement of the revellers and devotees.
12.40 pm: BMC, police, Coast Guard and Navy have made elaborate arrangements to ensure smooth and safe immersion of the idols.
Ganpati visarjan procession in progress at Lakshmi road in Pune. (Source: Express Photo/Arun Horizon)
12.30 pm: Devotees performed the traditional Koli dance at the Lalbaughcha Raja pandal in central Mumbai before the procession began.
12.20 pm: In Solapur, people took Ganesh idols from their homes and immersed them in the Siddheshwar lake.
Ganpati Visarjan procession in progress at Lakshmi road in Pune. (Source: Express Photo by Arul Horizon)
12.10 pm: The festival was popularised by Bal Gangadhar Tilak who thought it would bring people together and create a feeling of patriotism to fight the British Raj.
12.00 pm: Over 7,600 Ganesh idols installed at public places and more than one lakh idols in homes will be immersed today, police said. The smaller idols will be immersed first, followed by the big ones like Lalbaugcha Raja, which will be immersed in the Arabian Sea at Girgaum Chowpatty in south Mumbai.
Crowd awaiting Mumbai’s Lalbaugcha Raja exiting Ganesh Gully in Lalbaug. (Source: Express Photo/Nirmal Harindran)
