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Pune’s Ganesh immersion concludes in record 23.45 hrs; lowest in 10 years
In 2018, the Ganesh immersion ceremony took 26 hours. On Thursday, the traditional procession began at 10 am from Belbaug chowk
The ceremonious Ganesh immersion ceremony which marks a high point of the 10-day Ganesh festival, was completed in a record 23.45 hours on Thursday as against 26 hours last year.
This marked the shortest duration in a decade and was the result of the close coordination by the city police, lesser number of mandals this year and the willingness of Ganesh mandals to improve their timings.
The traditional procession which began from Belbaug Chowk at 10 am on Thursday, concluded at Alka Talkies at 9.45 am, before proceeding to the river banks.
Each of the participating mandals got ample time to display their skills and passed through smoothly at Belbaug Chowk, a choke-point in previous years.
In 2009, the immersion Ganesh idols by all the registered mandals in the city was completed in 25.15 hours and this duration increased to 29 hours on one occasion.
Pune police commissioner K Venkatesham thanked all the mandals, participants and the entire police staff “for doing a brilliant job in managing time and helping the mandals and citizens in the Ganesh festival through the mission of parampara (culture) and prabhodhan (awareness).”
He said the dhol-tasha performers of various mandals got ample time to display their skills before the public and were very happy. The procession moved smoothly throughout its 4.5 kilometre and the spectacle was enjoyed by thousands of residents who had lined the route to participate in the festivities, said Venkatesham.
This year 155 mandals participated in the procession on Laxmi road and 128 on Tilak road. A total of 290 mandals had taken the immersion passes from the police. The last mandal came at Alka Chowk at 9.45 am.
Duration of Ganesh Immersion Procession
2013: 27.25 hrs
2014: 29.12 hrs
2015: 28.55 hrs
2016: 28.30 hrs
2017: 28.05 hrs
2018: 26.36 hrs
