Ganesh Visarjan 2019: Maharashtra bids farewell to Ganapati Bappa on Anant Chaturdashi

The 10-day long celebrations reached their zenith on Thursday with thousands of devotees joining processions to immerse the idols of Lord Ganesha.

The last phase of the festivity culminated into numerous processions across the city, which were accompanied by dancers and musicians, playing the traditional music on the occasion marked by immense enthusiasm and fervour.

Speaking to news agencies in Pune, a local said "Everybody is excited as we all wait for this festival for a year. Every house in the city is engaged in the celebrations as the wave of happiness touches one and all. Drum and 'Tasha' players make the celebrations all the more amazing."

Talking about the preparation, a 'dhol' playing woman Suchitra Zogdekar said: "Although we are a bit sad that the lord is going back, we are happy that we prepared for the same with great rigor and now we have bonded so well with each other."

Everyone has been preparing for this for a month. So you can see the teamwork at a full swing where each one of us has contributed equally from getting the instruments to organising the whole event," she added.

In Pune, more than 7000 police personnel have been deployed to oversee the immersion of idols of Lord Ganesha. 

This year in Mumbai, it was announced that a leading network service provider will be assisting the police in drone surveillance for aerial patrolling of three prominent immersion spots — Juhu Chowpatty, Girgaum Chowpatty and Ganesh Ghat in Powai where lakhs of devotees are expected to attend visarjan festivities.

Other key spots like Shivaji Park, Badi Masjid in Bandra and Ashish Talao in Chembur will also be under drone vigilance, claimed the police.

Speaking about the security arrangements, Deputy Commissioner of Police, operations, Pranay Ashok said, “To handle the crowd and for better traffic management, a total of 3,002 police officers and 1,570 traffic wardens have been deployed. 53 roads have been blocked, 56 have been made one way, 18 roads prohibited for heavy vehicles and 99 areas have been declared as no parking zones.”

The tenth day of Ganeshotsav is marked by the celebrations of Anant Chaturdashi. Anant Chaturdashi is the last day of the Hindu festival Ganesh Chaturthi when all the Ganesha Idols that have been brought into homes and communities are immersed in the sea or nearby lakes and rivers. It is believed that Lord Ganesha is departed on Anant Chaturdashi, only to be welcomed again. 

Hindus celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi for 10 days, and on the 11th day of this festival is Ganesh Visarjan. The statue is to be immersed in a river or the sea symbolizing a ritual see-off of the Lord in his journey towards his abode in Kailash while taking away with him the misfortunes of his devotees. During the celebrations of Ganesha Chaturthi, some people immerse the Ganesha idols within the 10 days, however, most people like to carry out the Ganesha Visarjan after serving Lord Ganesha for the entire period of 10 days.