Hyderabad celebrates Ganesh festival

Chants of 'Ganapati bappa moriya' rent the air as Ganesh Chavithi (Vinayaka Chaturthi) festival welcomed in Hyderabad on Wednesday amid tight security.

Devotees performed the 'aarti' and 'sthapan puja'  at specially-decorated pandals to mark the birthday of Lord Ganesh, the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.

According to reports, more than  50,000 idols have been put up in and around Hyderabad for the 10-day festival this year. This is in addition to small idols in apartments and individual houses.

Sweet shops and supermarkets were also teeming with people buying sweets and groceries for the festival.

Millions of Hyderabadis remained awake through the night making last minute preparations for the installation of gigantic, medium and small idols of Lord Ganesh in different public venues, housing complexes and homes.

The festival is celebrated with great enthusiasm in the city. While a majority of the gigantic idols were installed last week in different marquees to enable decoration before being unveiled on Wednesday, the small idols started arriving since Tuesday evening, reports said.

- Siva@sakshipost