Small crowd seen at Khairatabad Ganesh
State honours to be accorded for Ganesh idol
Devotees thronged the Khairatabad Ganesha idol on Sunday, the last holiday before the immersion on Tuesday.
Strict precautions were in place, and the crowd was less than previous years. That will be the trend during the immersion as well.
Only 16 organisers will participate in the procession for immersing the Balapur and Khairatabad idols on Tuesday morning. The Bhagyanagar Utsav Samiti appealed to citizens not to step out in huge numbers.
For the first time, state honours will be accorded to the Khairatabad Ganesh idol, according to samiti secretary Ravinuthala Shashidhar.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle samiti chief secretary Bhagavanth Rao said that over
50,000 devotees had come to see the Khairatabad idol and the number would go up on Monday. Though it was a tough job, the committee had ensured that Covid19 guidelines including use of face marks and sanitisers and maintaining physical distancing were adhered to.
“Due to the special circumstances, only 10 per cent of the people came to see the idol when compared to last year. They were extremely co-operative and we hope they would extend similar cooperation until immersion day,” Rao said. The Khairatabad procession will begin at about
7.30 am on Tuesday and the Balapur Ganesh
procession will start at 9 am. Samiti secretary Shashidar said both idols will be immersed at about 11.30 am, the earliest finish for the ceremony.
“Ten organisers will accompany the Khairatabad Ganesh idol in
the procession which will go past Telephone Bhavan, Secretariat and NTR Marg. The idol will be immersed near Crane No. 11. Six organisers will accompany the Balapur Ganesh idol,” he said. Shashidhar said the devotees can perform
virtual aarti to the idols during the procession which will be telecast on media channels or livestreamed on social media platforms. He said distribution of prasadam, water sachets, juice or eatables would be banned.