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INDIA, September 10, 2003: Millions of devotees all over India bid a fond farewell to Lord Ganesha on Tuesday amid chants asking the Lord to come back early next year. After his 10-day sojourn on Earth, the Lord’s icons, in various shapes and sizes, were immersed under the vigil of police personnel and the fervor of devotees. In Mumbai, the main immersion points were filled to the brim by devotees. Clarinets, brass bells, windpipes and trumpets gave the farewell a touch of traditional (and slightly British) pomp and royal glory. Watching the festivities were over 20,000 policemen and women. A special watchtower was set up to monitor the surging crowds and lifeguards and rescue boats were kept ready to face any emergencies. While early afternoon saw small statues installed in households making it to the waterfront, late evening saw the huge icons of nearly 3,500 mandals (temporary temples which housed the icons during the festival) moving towards the waterfronts. The eye-catching deities included Ganesha holding the Veena, Ganesha in the form of Vishnu and Krishna and a Ganesha flexing his muscles as a body builder. In Pune about four million people witnessed the immersions. Nashik, Nagpur and Hyderabad also contained huge crowds in mainly peaceful immersion processions.

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