Hyderabad, September 19 INN: The 11-long Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations have begun here on Wednesday. Beautiful pandals have been erected at almost every nook and corner of the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.
According to an estimate, about 40,000 Ganesh pandals have been erected across the city. Continuing the trend, this year too, many organisers have come up with beautiful idols and unique concepts. The Khairtabad Ganesh idol is the tallest in the city with an added attraction of 3500 kg of laddu. The appeals by the City Police and administration to limit the size of Ganesh idols were completely ignored. However, this year the clay or environment-friendly idols had many takers.
The celebrations began with a pooja in which thousands of devotees participated. While Governor ESL Narasimhan offered pooja at Khairtabad Ganesh pandal, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu took part in the pooja at the NTR Trust Bhavan. The Governor offered a 50 feet "zanjeeram" and 72 feet "khandwa" to the Khairtabad Ganesh idol. Labour Minister Danam Nagender and Secunderabad MP Anjan Kumar Yadav also offered pooja at Khairtabad Ganesh.
For the first time, pooja was also organised at Gandhi Bhavan by PCC vice-president Gangadhar and General Secretary G Niranjan. Poojas were also held at the party offices of Telangana Rashtra Samithi and Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Hyderabad City Police has made unprecedented security arrangements to ensure peaceful conduct of the 11-day long festival. Beside the regular force, additional security personnel have been deployed across the city for the smooth conduct of festival.
The Ganesh festival would come to end with the immersion procession on September 29. The administration has already made arrangements for the immersion of over 40,000 idols at Hussain Sagar.
- INN
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