Hyderabad, Sept 1 (PTI) The immersion of Lord Ganesha idols, marking the conclusion of 11-day long Vinayaka Chaturthi festivities, was held here on Tuesday with participants wearing masks and following social distancing norms for COVID-19.

The idols were immersed in the famous Hussain Sagar lake and at other water bodies in the city where elaborate arrangements were made for the smooth conduct of the event.

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Hyderabad Commissioner of Police Anjani Kumar, who reviewed the arrangements, told reporters that the immersion of Ganesha idols was peaceful.

Tight security arrangements were made and around 15,000 personnel deployed in the city. The Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samiti, the body overseeing Ganpati celebrations here, had earlier cancelled the centralised procession this year in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

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The Ganesh idol installed at the famous pandal at Khairatabad here was immersed in the Hussain Sagar lake in the evening.

'Khairatabad Ganesh' is popular among devotees for its huge size. However, the organisers this year installed a nine-foot tall clay idol on the theme of 'Dhanvantari', the God of medicine.

A large number of devotees wearing masks were seen clicking photos and selfies as the 'Khairatabad Ganesh' was taken in a procession towards the immersion point.

Similarly, the famous Balapur Ganesh idol was also immersed.

Police have said they expect around 4,000 Ganesha idols to be immersed on Tuesday.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)