Hustle and bustle of Ganesh festivities return to Hyd'bad

Hyderabad: Devotees in the city welcomed Lord Ganesh with full josh and spirituality after almost two years. Huge crowd was seen thronging the Khairatabad Ganesh puja pandal and several prominent pandals in the city.

According to Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samithi, after almost two years, Ganesh pandals were seen set up in every nook and corner of the city. Around two lakh pandals have been set up. Most of the pandals were seen in tri-colour following the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations.

The traditional Chaturthi fervour is back in Hyderabad without any restrictions this year. Around one lakh devotees visited the 50-ft clay idol at Khairatabad. On the first day, Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya visited the Khairatabad Ganesh pandal and offered prayers.

Following the digital era, 'digital darshan' a new initiative has been taken up. Devotees can now worship and offer puja to the Khairatabad Ganesh through online puja services. We have joined hands with Deva Seva, a technology start-up to provide digital darshan. We received a huge response for digital darshan in the first two days. The main reason for starting this initiative is for the ones who cannot visit the pandal and perform pujas," said a member of Khairatabad Ganesh Utsav Committee.

Kallem Niranjan Reddy, president of Balapur Ganesh Utsav Samithi said, "the Balapur Ganesh is not only famous for its laddu auction but also known for its various themes. This year the pandal is set up like the Arunachalam temple at Tamil Naidu.

"Like every year, even this year 'Pehalwan Ganesh' has attracted the devotees. After almost two years I could visit the various puja pandals at Begum Bazar and could see different innovative and unique idols," said Ravi, a devotee.

"After two years I visited many Ganesh Puja pandals and everyone were seen with full enthusiasm and spiritual zeal," said another devotee.