Mumbai: After the 10-day-long extravaganza of Ganeshotsava festivities, the Lord’s ‘visarjan’ commened on Thursday in this megapolis and other cities across India.
The festival had commenced on September 2 amid tight security.
On Thursday, the people celebrated Anant Chaturdashi with processions taking the Lord’s idols for ‘visarjan’ (immersion) in water bodies, marking end of the auspicious Hindu festival.
Celebrated on the 14th day of the lunar fortnight, Ganeshotsava is concluded seeking blessings of the elephant-headed God with grand procession.
The festival of Lord Ganesha, who is known as “Vighnaharta” (Remover of Obstacles), is observed across the nation with enthusiasm, especially in Maharashtra and Gujarat. The end of festivities is marked by processions amid ceremony, before finally immersing the statue in a body of water with prayers.
As the Mumbai city geared up for Ganpati Visarjan, police in the state have put in place elaborate security measures, including crowd control. Mumbai and Pune police have made arrangements for the immersion ceremony which will come to end late on Thursday.
“Over 40,000 security forces have been deployed, including special forces and reserved forces of Mumbai police. Civil defence and home guards will also be deployed,” Mumbai Police PRO, Pranay Ashok informed a press conference.
A lot of foreigners from across the globe thronged Mumbai to take part in the ‘Ganesh Visarjan’ processions which were carried out in the city on Thursday.
One of the foreigners, hailing from Bangkok told, “This is the third time that I came along with my friends here to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi. I can’t explain our love for Lord Ganesha. That’s the sole reason why we are in Mumbai during these days.”
“If we get chance to visit India again during these festivals, we’ll definitely come,” she added.
Another foreigner said, “In Thailand, a lot of people follow Buddhism. However, we respect the Hindu religion because it is much older than Buddhism. The religions are for heart and soul and Lord Ganesha is in our souls. All I ask from Ganesha is to preserve peace in the world.”
