Watch Mumbai bids adieu to Ganpati

The Ganesh idol immersion processions in Maharashtra were on Monday marred by the death of at least eleven people in parts of the state, even as devotees in the state thronged in large numbers to bid adieu to Ganpati. 

In Mumbai, among the early starters for the immersion were the Ganesh Galli Mandal and Lalbaughcha Raja, which attracted lakhs of devotees during the Ganesh festival, that began on August 25 and concludes on 'Anant Chaturdashi' today. Several devotees performed Koli dance, a traditional dance of the fishermen, at the Lalbaughcha Raja pandal in central Mumbai before the 'visarjan' (immersion) procession began.

The immersion marks the end of the Ganesh festival, which was popularised by 'Lokmanya' Bal Gangadhar Tilak to bring the people together to create a feeling of patriotism and fight the British Raj. Over 7,600 Ganesh idols installed at public places and more than one lakh idols in homes will be immersed today. By 3 pm, around 80 public idols and 3,600 'gharguti' (home) idols were immersed, an official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.