Devotees bid adieu to Lord Ganesh after 11-day festivities in Hubballi

Hubballi witnesses grand Ganesh Chaturthi immersion procession with huge idols, music, dance, and police vigilance.

It was yet again a time for public show of devotion and revelry in Hubballi on Tuesday as thousands of people of all age groups came out in large numbers to participate in the immersion procession of Ganesh idols, the concluding event of the 11-day festivities of Ganesh Chaturthi festival.

The rituals of bidding adieu to the Elephant God began in the morning at hundreds of Ganesh pandals spread across the city, with devout Hindus participating in the final maha mangalarati and other rituals in good numbers.

Post-rituals, several of them bid for the puja material and the offerings made to Lord Ganesh in auctions held just before the arrangements to shift the idols to trailers were made.

Technically, the immersion processions began relatively much early, with a few huge idols of Ganesha being moved out of the pandals. But like always, they moved at a snail’s pace subsequently as large number of people joined the celebrations and unprecedented numbers came to watch the grand spectacle.

Two of the gigantic idols of Ganesh, Hubballi Ka Raja at Dajibanpet and Hubballi Ka Maharaja at Marattha Galli, attracted huge crowds as many gathered to see the huge idols measuring over 25 ft being moved out of the pandals.

Amid loud cheer by the crowd the idols were moved out of the pandals and what followed next was sheer revelry with people of all age groups, including girls and women, in large numbers dancing to the tune of hit numbers belted out by high decibel sound systems.

At a few places, traditional percussion instruments like dollu and jaggalige provided the much-needed foot thumping music for the revellers.