Hyderabad: Immersion of 70-Foot Khairatabad Ganesh Concludes Ganesh Chaturthi Festival
Hyderabad: The 70-foot-tall Khairatabad Ganesh idol was ceremoniously immersed into the Hussain Sagar Lake on Tuesday, September 17, marking the end of the 10-day Ganesh Chaturthi festival.
The idol’s grand procession, known as the Saptamukha Mahaganapati Shobhayatra, reached Tank Bund at 1:30 pm. The event commenced early in the morning with final prayers and concluded with the ceremonial lifting of the idol onto a large tusker using a crane.
The procession began around 6:30 am from the pandal and moved through key locations including Sensation Theatre, Telephone Bhavan, Telugu Talli Flyover, and the Secretariat.
Organizers reported that the total donations collected in the ‘hundi’ during the festival amounted to Rs 70 lakh, with an additional Rs 40 lakh raised through hoardings and advertisements. For the first time, the collection was monitored via closed circuit cameras.
The Khairatabad Ganesh tradition began in 1954 when freedom fighter Shankaraiah established a small pandal with a one-foot idol. Over the years, the idol’s height increased, reaching 70 feet this year. Crafted by Chennai-based sculptor Chinnaswamy Rajendran and 150 artisans, the Khairatabad Ganesh idol is known for its distinctive annual avatars and highly coveted laddu prasadam.
