One Million Participate in Hyderabad Ganesha Finale

September 20, 2005

HYDERABAD, INDIA, September 17, 2005: Thousands of people chanted "Ganpati Buppa

Murya" as Ganesha icons were immersed Saturday at the Hussain Sagar Lake in this

Andhra Pradesh capital marking the end of a 10-day Hindu festival. More than

25,000 policemen provided security as the icons were taken in a procession for

the immersion. Saffron was the dominating color on the 15-km long route of the

main procession. Devotees sporting saffron headgear danced to drumbeats as

gaily decorated vehicles carrying the icons advanced slowly towards the lake.

Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utasav Samiti, the organizers of the main procession for

more than two decades, had set up a dais at the historic Charminar to welcome

icons coming from different localities. Leaders of political parties and Hindu

organizations addressed the gathering at Charminar and Moazzam Jahi Market. For

the third consecutive year, Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) set up a dais

near Charminar to welcome the p rocession in an attempt to promote communal

harmony. The Muslim and Hindu corporators of this powerful Muslim political

party arranged food and water for the devotees. About a million people in

different parts of the capital joined the festivities on the roads, making it

the second biggest procession after Mumbai. The annual procession attracted

people from neighboring states of Karnataka and Maharashtra. "This procession

is something which I can't miss," said Naveen of Bangalore, who has been coming

regularly for the last five years. More than 15,000 icons were slated for

immersion in the lake, which divides the twin cities of Hyderabad and

Secunderabad. The procession crippled normal life in the city with police

imposing restrictions on movement of vehicles for 26 hours, beginning 6 a.m.

Saturday.

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