Bal Thackeray’s ashes immersed

The ashes of late Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray were immersed in the Arabian sea and other rivers across the country on Friday.

The ashes of late Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray were immersed in the Arabian sea and other rivers across the country on Friday.

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While the main immersion ritual, attended by immediate family members, took place at the Gateway of India, party cadres repeated the process in other parts of India.

The rituals began at 10am, with Thackeray’s son Uddhav initiating the process on the deck of a special boat provided by the state government. Uddhav’s estranged cousin Raj Thackeray was present for the first 20 minutes of the ceremony, but left before the family immersed the ashes. Uddhav, accompanied by his son Aditya, wife Rashmi, sister-in-law Madhavi and party leaders Sanjay Raut and Diwakar Raote all sailed far into the sea to immerse the ashes.

At Nashik, where Sena cadres led by city chief Vijay Karanjkar immersed the ashes in the Godavari river as a large group of citizens looked on. The ashes were also taken to rivers in Harihareshwar, Haridwar, Varanasi and Kanyakumari among other places in the country.