drumbeats, devotional chants enliven Ganesha immersion procession

Tumakuru: Performance by folkart troupes, chants of Ganapati Bappa Morya reverberating through the streets, and groups of youth dancing to the beats of tamate and dollu marked the grand Ganesha immersion procession here on Saturday.The procession was organised as part of the Hindu Mahaganapati Visarjana Mahotsava. The Vishva Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal had installed the Ganesha idol on the premises of Somekatte Mutt near Bhadramma Choultry Circle. Various religious rituals and cultural programmes were held over the past 13 days. Thousands of people witnessed the immersion festivities.4 injured in electric shock during Gowri-Ganesha procession in Karnataka’s VirajpetOver 20 Ganesha idols installed by various organisations across the City took part in the procession and were immersed collectively. The idols were carried through the City on decorated vehicles. With the use of DJs prohibited, a large number of folk artistes could participate in the procession.Kamsale, Dollu Kunitha, Nandidhwaja, Veeragase, Nashik Dhol, Danka and Tamate troupes added colour to the procession. Lakshmi, the elephant from Karibasaveshwara Mutt, also took part. Portraits of Savarkar, Chhatrapati Shivaji, Bharat Mata and Bal Gangadhar Tilak attracted attention.The procession began near Bhadramma Choultry and passed through B H Road, Town Hall and Caltex before taking J C Road and Mandipet Circle to reach Swatantrya Chowk. From there, it proceeded along Ashoka Road to Town Hall, B H Road and M G Road. It then passed Kodi Basaveshwara Circle and Garden Road before the idols were immersed at KNS Kalyani.Elaborate police security arrangements were made to prevent any untoward incidents, with a large number of personnel deployed along the procession route.BJP leaders protest near T Narsipur police station over restrictions on Ganesha processionSeer flags offSiddaganga Mutt seer Siddalinga Swamiji performed Maha Mangalaarati and offered flowers to the Hindu Mahaganapati before flagging off the immersion procession.Karada Veera Basava Swamiji of Bellavi Karadeshwara Mutt, MLA G B Jyothiganesh, BJP district unit president H S Ravishankar and leaders Dr Lakshmikanth, Kori Manjunath, T H Hanumantharaju, Navachethan, Dhanush, Mahendra Vaishnav, Ambika, B S Manjunath, T S Kumbhinarasaiah, H G Chandrashekhar, T B Harish, C S Bhaskar, Vasavi Gupta, Jumar Lal, G K Srinivas, B G Pradeep, Madhusudan, Balaji, K Vedamurthy and Suresh Rao participated in the procession.Roads closedVehicular movement was restricted on roads through which the procession passed. B H Road was closed from 11.30 am, causing inconvenience to motorists. Traffic was restricted on one side of the road between S S Circle and Caltex.Heavy traffic congestion was reported on J C Road, Ashoka Road and M G Road.

Source: Deccan Herald