K'taka celebrates Ganesh festival with fervour; Hubballi procession begins at Idgah maidan

People across Karnataka, cutting across religious lines, are celebrating the Ganesh festival with fervour, including in the capital city, Bengaluru.

The inaugural Ganapathi procession that began at Idgah Maidan in Hubballi city on Saturday will pass through the main streets of the city, and tight security arrangements have been made for it.

The police department has also beefed up security in Shivamogga city, which witnessed violence during the Eid-Milad procession.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah set aside all his programmes on the occasion of Vinayak Chaturthi, while Deputy Chief Minister and Karnataka Congress President, DK Shivakumar is participating in a private religious programme at his hometown, Doddabanahalli, near Kanakapura on the outskirts of Bengaluru.

Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, while conveying his wishes to the people of the state, has called for worshipping eco-friendly Ganesha idols.

"My warm wishes to the people of the state on the occasion of the Ganesha festival. With the arrival of Lord Ganesha, let good things happen to everyone, and let there be peace, joy, contentment, and prosperity. Let's celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi by worshipping eco-friendly Ganesh idols," Deve Gowda stated.

Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel, HD Kumaraswamy, also conveyed his wishes on Ganesh Chaturthi to everyone.

"I pray that Lord Ganesha will help everyone to overcome their difficulties and bless all with happiness, joy, prosperity, health, and longevity," Kumaraswamy stated.

Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution, Pralhad Joshi, made an appeal to the people to ensure hygiene and cleanliness while preparing food and snacks to distribute to devotees as 'prasadam'.

All temples in the state are decked up for the occasion, and devotees queued up before the famous Ganesh temples in the state since early morning to offer prayers.

In Bengaluru and all major cities, slow traffic movement was witnessed in the areas surrounding the temples.

Special prayers were offered at the historical 450-year-old Dodda Ganapathy temple in the Basavanagudi locality of Bengaluru.

The statue of Lord Ganesha, sculpted from an 8-feet tall and 12-feet wide monolithic boulder, is specially decorated for the occasion.

The historically famous Idagunji Mahaganapathy temple in Honnavar town of Uttara Kannada district is visited by thousands of devotees.

This is the only two-toothed Ganesha statue; the vahana, or vehicle of Ganesha, always depicted alongside him, is not shown in this but is placed on a stone pedestal.

Thousands of people have gathered at the Kurudumale Ganesha temple in Kolar district, built by the kings of the Vijayanagar kingdom, where the Ganesha idol is believed to have been installed by the Trimurthis – Brahma, Vishnu, and Maheshwara.

Legend also says that Lord Ram offered prayers at this spot to the idol during his search for Sita, and it is believed that the Pandavas offered their prayers here before the battle of Mahabharata.

(With inputs from IANS)