Devotees bid adieu to Ganesha amidst chants of 'Ganpati Bappa Morya'

KANPUR: The ten-day festival of Ganesh Chaturthi came to an end on Sunday. Thousands of devotees participated in Ganpati Visarjan.
The cries of 'Ganpati Bappa Morya' reverberated in the air. Thousands of people assembled on the streets to see the idols of 'Lord Ganesha' being taken out for immersion at various ghats.
There were hundreds of processions on the streets in which people participated by beating drums (dhol), dancing and chanting 'bhajans'.
As many as 560 Ganpati idols were immersed into the Ganga. The figure is the highest so far in the city. People from all walks of life could seen in these processions taken out from various localities.
The atmosphere was full of joy and enthusiasm on the last day of Ganesh Utsav. Men smeared in pink powder were dancing to please the Lord. Women sang bhajans and sought the blessings of Lord Ganesha.
The scene at Sarsaiya Ghat was overwhelming, where thousands of devotees were standing in queues to say goodbye to the elephant-headed god. Children, men, women, elderly or the youngsters, all were chanting 'Ganpati Bappa Morya' before the immersion.
Similar was the scene at Massacre Ghat. The huge crowd chanting 'bhajans', dancing and playing with colours had recreated the scenes of Holi in the month of September.
The highest number of idols were immersed at 'Gola Ghat', which is the only ghat authorised by the Kanpur Nagar Nigam for immersion of Ganpati idols. The reason being the wide entrance at the Gola Ghat which made the process of 'visarjan' easier for the devotees.
Mishra Ghat, Guftar Ghat and Siddhanath Ghat also drew a large number of devotees.
Several devotees also took a holy dip in the pious river After the 'Visarjan'. Tight security arrangements were made at various city ghats.
Sandhya, a devotee said that the prayers are common then how can the festival be confined to any particular region of the country.
Octogenarian Hari Nath said that the immersion of the idols signifies that the deity returns to its abode after being the guest of the devotees for ten days.
The festival began on September 1.