After two years' sabbatical, Bappa gets grand send-off at end of 10-day Ganeshutsav

Chants of 'Ganpati Bappa Morya' rent the air when people thronged Mumbai’s streets to take their Lord Ganesha idols—big and small—for immersion, as the 10-day Ganeshutsav drew to a close on Friday.

Coinciding with Anant Chaturdashi, about 3.5 to 4 lakh idols of Lord Ganesha—of varying sizes, shapes and themes—were immersed as final goodbyes, marking the end of the biggest festival of Maharashtra.

A massive number of people thronged the Lalbaug-Parel area to see the procession of Mumbaicha Raja of Ganesh Gully, Lalbaugcha Raja, Chintamani of Chinchpokli and Tejukaya—the four big idols of Mumbai—being taken for 'visarjan' (immersion).

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Throughout the Mumbai metropolitan region, and elsewhere in Maharashtra, idols of the pot-bellied elephant-headed god were immersed into streams, ponds, lakes, rivers and the Arabian Sea, amidst loud drum beats.

Reports of celebrations also came in from Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, Kolhapur, and Aurangabad. Besides Mumbai, the festivities were on a high note in coastal Konkan districts of Palghar, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg.

People chanted 'Ganpati Bappa morya…pudchaya varshi lavkar ya' (Hail Lord Ganpati, come early next year), and threw gulal in the air, as big Ganpati idols passed through the streets of Mumbai.

Humongous crowd was seen at Girgaum Chowpatty, one of the biggest, most popular and most crowded immersion sites.

Huge crowds were also seen at the Dadar Chowpatty as people bid farewell to the elephant god, who is deemed to be the lord of intellect, wisdom, prosperity and remover of all obstacles.

At Girgaum, special arrangements were made by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation and the Directorate of Tourism for foreigners to witness the festival.

In Mumbai, tight security arrangements were seen with CCTVs placed across the procession route, aerial surveillance by Coast Guard choppers, drones hovering over immersion spots and police personnel and plainclothesmen on the streets.