Farewell, Ganesha! Hyderabad gives Bappa a grand send-off

The lanes and bylanes across the city wore a carnivalesque look as thousands of devotees, carrying their idols, gathered near water bodies across Hyderabad to bid adieu to Ganesha. Chants of ‘Jai Bolo Ganesh Maharaj Ki’ and ‘Ganapati Bappa Morya’ reverberated across the streets on a rainy Sunday afternoon as city folk danced on the streets and celebrated with abandon.The first, and biggest, procession of the day was the Shobha Yatra of the iconic Khairatabad Bada Ganesha. The procession started in the morning and concluded at around 3 pm as folk artistes and youth danced to teen maar beats and DJ music.

Sreeja, a resident of Nampally who came along with a group of friends said, “Since I was a child, I’ve always been coming to Tank Bund every year to watch the immersion of the Khairatabad Ganesha idol. The city comes alvie during this time and I’m so happy to experience this again after having stayed home last year. The experience of Ganesh immersion in Hyderabad is truly a wonderful spectacle.”

Soon after the immersion of the Bada Ganesha, Ganesh idols from Charminar, Begum Bazar, Mehdipatnam and other parts of the city made their way towards Tank Bund. Different dress codes at different pandals added colour to the proceedings as women, children and elderly exchanged sweets and danced to the tunes of teen maar bands.