Chennai, Sept 07: The week-long "Ganesh Chaturthi" festival came to an end today in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry with the immersion of hundreds Ganesh idols, of various sizes, in the sea, lakes, ponds and wells, passing of peacefully. In the city, hundreds of Ganesh idols, including a 24 feet high one, were brought in procession from all parts of the metropolis and immersed in the sea off the Marina Beach amidst tight security.

Cranes were used to lift some huge idols off trucks and bullock carts and place them in the sea. About 5000 police personnel were on duty maintaining law and order.

Besides, the processions taken out by individual and private groups, outfits like the Hindu Makkal Katchi and Hindu Munnani also organised Ganesh processions.

The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and Kanchi Sankaracharaya had appealed to devotees to avoid using idols made of plaster of paris or coated with toxic materials in view of the concerns expressed by environmentalists. A Pondicherry report said that over one hundred clay idols of Ganesh were taken out in procession and immersed in the Bay of Bengal.

Among the idols immersed was a 21 foot high one.

The police had made elaborate arrangements to ensure that the processions passed off peacefully.

Bureau Report