Grand, colourful farewell to Ganesha from Idgah Maidan in Hubballi

The Ganesh idol installed and worshipped at the controversial Idgah Maidan located adjacent to Kittur Chennamma Circle in Hubballi was given a grand farewell with a colourful procession without DJ music on the third day on Friday.

Amid high security with Police Commissioner N. Shashikumar, accompanied by senior officials, keeping vigil, the idol of Lord Ganesh modelled on the mythological episode related to Lord Krishna’s childhood, was taken out on an embellished vehicle accompanied by a few tableaux and several folk troupes.

Before the immersion procession left the Idgah Maidan, various rituals pertaining to the immersion procession were gone through.

A stage programme was also organised in which the former MP Pratap Simha, MLA Mahesh Tenginakai, managing director of Swarnaa Group V.S.V. Prasad, president of the Rani Chennamma Maidan Ganesh Utsava Mahamandali Sanjeev Badaskar and others took part.

The Rani Chennamma Maidan Ganesh Utsava Mahamandali, which was permitted to hold public celebrations of the Ganeshotsav at the Idgah Maidan, had resolved against using any high decibel DJ sound system during the immersion procession. And, on its invitation, nearly 20 folk troupes from various places took part in the procession and enthralled the audience through their lively performances.

Scores of Hindutva activists and devotees took part in the procession and several of them danced to the beats of the traditional drums.

Although the immersion procession left the Idgah Maidan at the time stipulated by the municipal and police authorities, it moved at a snail’s pace on the designated route and took over five hours to reach the immersion pond.

The festivities concluded with the immersion of the idol at the artificial pond amid chanting of Ganapati Bappa Morya and other slogans.

All along the procession route, the police kept a close watch to prevent any untoward incident and heaved a sigh of relief after the procession concluded peacefully.

The Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation first permitted Ganesh festival celebrations at the Idgah Maidan in 2022 and the High Court of Karnataka subsequently upheld its decision.