Vinayaka idols immersed in Puducherry
The Hindu
As many as 33 Vinayaka idols installed on private premises across the town were immersed on Tuesday in the Beach Promenade. The procession passed off peacefully without any untoward incident. The proc
As many as 33 Vinayaka idols installed on private premises across the town were immersed on Tuesday in the Beach Promenade. The procession passed off peacefully without any untoward incident.
The procession, which began on Kamaraj Salai, went around the town and reached the beach after covering places, including Jawaharlal Nehru Street, Mahatma Gandhi Street and Sardar Vallabhai Patel Salai.
The Vinayaka idols were mounted on various vehicles, including trucks, and a crane was used to immerse big idols in the sea. The police had made elaborate security arrangements across the town. Hundreds of policemen were deployed along the procession route. They also diverted traffic on Jawaharlal Nehru Street, Kamaraj Salai and the Beach Road.
Hampi, the UNESCO-recognised historical site, was the capital of the Vijayanagara empire from 1336 to 1565. Foreign travellers from Persia, Europe and other parts of the world have chronicled the wealth of the place and the unique cultural mores of this kingdom built on the banks of the Tungabhadra river. There are fine descriptions to be found of its temples, farms, markets and trading links, remnants of which one can see in the ruins now. The Literature, architecture of this era continue inspire awe.
Unfurling the zine handed to us at the start of the walk, we use brightly-coloured markers to draw squiggly cables across the page, starting from a sepia-toned vintage photograph of the telegraph office. Iz, who goes by the pronouns they/them, explains, “This building is still standing, though it shut down in 2013,” they say, pointing out that telegraphy, which started in Bengaluru in 1854, was an instrument of colonial power and control. “The British colonised lands via telegraph cables, something known as the All Red Line.”