Epaper
Hyderabad: Thousands of Ganesh idols were installed in across the city and other parts of Andhra Pradesh and devotees offered special prayers as the 11-day long Ganesh festival began Wednesday.
People thronged temples since early morning and several vehicles were seen carrying huge idols of the elephant-headed god for installation in different localities of the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.
According to the police, as many as 13,000 idols would be installed this year on Ganesh Chaturthi day Wednesday, which marks the birth of the Hindu god.
Ganesh idols are worshipped for 10 days and on the 11th, the statues are taken through the streets in processions accompanied with much dancing, singing and fanfare to be immersed in the Hussain Sagar Lake in the heart of the city, symbolising a ritual see-off of the god.
More than a million people from the city and its outskirts attend the annual procession, the second biggest after Mumbaiâs Ganesh immersion procession.
The markets were buzzing with activity with people buying idols, flowers, fruits and sweets.
Hectic trading was on at Dhoolpet, where thousands of big idols are made and sold every year. Traders said the prices of idols have almost doubled compared to last year.
The price of a five-foot idol has been fixed at Rs.5,000 this year. Such idols are installed by tradersâ association and residentsâ welfare committees on roads, junctions and public places. The prices of even small idols installed in homes have gone up.
Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samiti, which has been organising the festivities on a massive scale since the early 1980s, has once again rejected the appeal by authorities not to immerse the idols in Hussain Sagar as it was polluting the 400-year-old lake. The campaign by authorities to use environment-friendly idols has also failed to have any impact.
Like every year, the biggest Ganesh idol will be installed in Khairatabad neighbourhood here. This year the artists have designed a 47-foot tall idol.
With the Ganesh festival coinciding with Muslim holy month of Ramadan and in the backdrop of threats from terrorists and Maoists, a heavy security blanket has been thrown around the state capital with the deployment of over 26,000 police personnel.
Hyderabad Police Commissioner B. Prasada Rao said massive security arrangements were made in view of the recent blasts in Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmedabad and increased threats from terrorists and Maoists.
He said 42 bomb disposal squads and access control teams equipped with door frame and hand-held metal detectors, deep search mine detectors and explosive vapour detectors would be deployed during the festive season.
Hyderabad had also witnessed three bomb blasts last year, killing over 50 people. Nine people were killed in an explosion during Friday prayers in the historic Mecca Masjid, while twin blasts in a park and a popular eatery had claimed 43 lives.