Ganesha immersion: Grand procession attracts huge crowd in Shivamogga

Hindu Mahasabha Ganapathi immersion procession in Shivamogga attracts hundreds of devotees, with political leaders and tight security.

Hundreds of people participated in the Hindu Mahasabha Ganapathi immersion procession in Shivamogga on Tuesday, September 17. The procession started at 10.30 a.m. after offering prayers to the idol installed on the premises of Bheemshwar Temple.

Hindu Mahasabha has been installing Ganesha idols for nearly 80 years. Every year, the procession attracts large numbers of devotees. Many people from different parts of the district and outside take part in the procession that covers the main streets of the city. All along the procession route, different organisations offered water, juice, food and sweets to the devotees.

The procession covered S.P.M. Road, Ramanna Shreshthi Park, Gandhi Bazaar, Shivappa Nayaka Circle, Ameer Ahmed Circle, B.H. Road, Ashoka Circle, Nehru Road, Durgigudi, Mahaveera Circle, Balaraj Urs Road, and other prominent roads before immersion of the idol in the Tunga. The organisers had placed saffron flags all along the route. Artists’ troupes added colour to the procession.

Leaders of all political parties, including B.Y. Raghavendra, Shivamogga MP; S.N. Channabasappa, MLA; former minister K.S. Eshwarappa, K.B. Prasanna Kumar, former MLA; Congress Party district president R. Prasanna Kumar, Congress leader H.C. Yogish and others, participated in the procession.

Mr. Yogish and his followers offered a garland of currency notes of denominations ₹10 and ₹20 to Ganesha. They used currency notes of face value ₹80,000 for the garland. Yogish told the presspersons that the garland would be presented to Bheemeshwara Temple and the amount would be spent for the temple’s renovation works.

The district police deployed more than 3,500 staff for security during the procession. The platoons of Rapid Action Force, Quick Response Team and KSRP were also involved. Besides that, the police hired 100 videographers to capture the event.

Many schools and colleges in the city declared a holiday on the day as the police had imposed restrictions on traffic movement. The movement of vehicles was badly hit in the city during the procession.