TN: Ganesha idols taken out on procession in Madurai, devotees celebrate with great fervour

Madurai (Tamil Nadu) [India], September 19 : Amid tight security arrangements, Ganesha idols were taken out in a procession in Madurai on Tuesday. Idols of various sizes and colours were carried in vehicles and carts, mostly by youths, who danced to the beats of the drums on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi.
The idols brought from different parts of the city started arriving in a queue at the lamppost junction from 3 PM onwards.
The participants in small and large groups danced to the tunes of bands and 'Tharai Thapattai' and 'Sendaimelam'. The procession started around 5.30 p.m. These Ganesha idols will be immersion in the Vaigai River tonight.
Ganesh Chaturthi festival is celebrated every year with great fervour, with thousands of devotees thronging temples and pandals for the darshan of the Lord Ganesha.
The 10-day festival ends with elaborate immersion processions on Anant Chaturdashi.
Earlier, the students from Tamil Nadu's Puducherry dedicated four months to meticulously designing a towering 15-foot-tall Ganesha idol ahead of the festival.
The Ganesh Chaturthi festival, which falls in the Bhadrapada month of the Hindu calendar, marks the birthday of Lord Ganesha, son of Shiva and Parvati.
Also known as Vinayak Chaturthi or Ganeshotsav, the festival is marked with the installation of Ganesha's clay idols privately in homes and publicly on elaborate pandals (temporary stage).
The 10-day festival ends when the idol is carried in a public procession with music and group chanting, then immersed in a nearby body of water such as a river or sea, called visarjan on the day of Anant Chaturdashi.
The festival celebrates Ganesha as the God of New Beginnings and the Remover of Obstacles as well as the god of wisdom and intelligence.