Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations begin

Hyderabad, Aug 29 (INN): The 11-day-long Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations have begun across the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on Friday.

Despite incessant rains since last night, the organisers have erected beautiful pandals at almost every nook and corner of the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Many organisers have come up with beautiful idols and unique concepts. According to rough estimates, nearly 50,000 Ganesh idols have been installed in the GHMC limits. The 60-feet Khairtabad Ganesh idol is the tallest in the city with an added attraction of 5000 kg of laddu.

The celebrations began with a pooja in which thousands of devotees participated. While Governor ESL Narasimhan offered pooja at Khairtabad Ganesh pandal along with his family members, many politicians offerred puja at their party offices. Secunderabad MP Bandaru Dattatreyya, former MP Anjan Kumar Yadav and former minister Danam Nagender also offered pooja at Khairtabad Ganesh.

The Hyderabad City Police has made unprecedented security arrangements to ensure peaceful conduct of the 11-day long festival. Nearly 15,000 security personnel have been deployed across the city for the smooth conduct of festival.

The Ganesh festival would come to end with the immersion procession on September 8. The administration has already made arrangements for the immersion of over 40,000 idols at Hussain Sagar.