In all 21 huge idols of lord Ganesha were taken out in a mammoth procession for immersion, in the city on Sunday.

The idols were later immersed at Sangama (confluence of rivers) at neighbouring Srirangapatna taluk in Mandya district.

The procession for the ninth year in a row, was organised by Samoohika Ganapati Visarjane Mandali. The procession began from the Ganapati temple at Erangere (Veerangere) behind St Philomena’s Church with 14 idols. The remaining seven idols joined the procession at Kote Anjaneya Swamy temple near Chamarajendra Wadiyar Circle opposite to north gate of the Palace.

Display

It was not just a procession but a display of artists’ talent with the lord in myriad avatars (forms); from the normal idol to Ganesha on horseback, Ganesha on the shoulders of lord Hanuman to  Ganesha on a demon among several others.

Golden howdah, the cynosure of all eyes during Dasara every year, was also an object of creativity here with an idol of Ganesha kept in the replica of the howdah. The only difference was, the howdah with the idol of Ganesha inside was mounted on an autorickshaw and the front portion of the three-wheeler was decorated with the design of elephant’s face, unlike real jumbo and the idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari in jamboo savari. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say, though a lookalike, the howdah reminded of jamboo savari.

Another highlight was the idol pinned with a prayer for solving water and power woes, garnering the attention for making apt demands.

Youth, who formed a major chunk of devotees accompanying the idols, danced to their hilt, besides hurling colours on each other, while the cultural troupes vied with each other.

Virtual fortress

Police had turned the route into a virtual fortress with a 1,000-member strong police force deployed to tackle emergency.

Besides, the district administration had prohibited the sale of liquor ordering for the closure of all wine shops for 12 hours from 8 am on Sunday in the limits of Udayagiri, Lashkar, Mandi, N R, Metagalli and K R police stations and Mysore-Bangalore road up to Srirangapatna.

Advocate C V Keshavmurthy performed the puja at the temple marking the beginning of the procession. President of the mandali and former corporator Narayanappa, convener M K Premkumar and others were present.