HYDERABAD: The Khairatabad Padmashali Association president Sridhar, honorary president Kondayya and general secretary Ale Swamy said that a 60-foot kanduva or stole, jandhyam (holy thread), and silk clothes would be presented to the Khairatabad Mahaganapati this time as per usual practice.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, they said that skilled artists toiled for 40 days to make these items. The members informed that on the day of Vinayaka Chavithi, a procession with a group of artists would come from Rajdhoot Chowrasta at 7 am and present it to the Lord.

Even before the festival day on September 10, the tallest Ganesh idol in Hyderabad was thrown open to the public and people started thronging the area to catch a glimpse of the Lord.

This year, the Ganesh idol stands at 40 feet with the Panchamukhas and will exhibit the ‘Shri Panchamuha Rudra Maha Ganapati’. It will also have the idols of Goddess Krishna Kali and Goddess Kala Nageswari on either side. The idol’s design had been created by S. Anbarasan and the idol was sculpted by C. Rajendran.

The idol stood at 40 feet exactly 20 years ago in 2001. After the first wave of the COVID pandemic, the idol size was reduced to a 9-foot idol in 2020. It stood the tallest at 61 feet in the year 2019. The Ganesh idol installation was started by Shankaraiah in 1954 with a one-foot idol. It was gradually increased every year.

The celebrations will start from September 10 and continue till September 19. The idol has to be immersed on the last day of the festivities, on September 19. Usually, it is immersed in the Hussain Sagar lake, but this time with the High Court Ruling stating that no PoP idols should be immersed in the lake, we have to wait and see where the Nimmjjanam will take place.

Bhagavanth Rao, Secretary of the Ganesh Ustav Committee said that they have not received any copy of the Court order so far, however, we will conduct the festivities as per the mandatory COVID regulations, he stated.

Also Read: Don't Immerse PoP Idols in Hussain Sagar on Ganesh Nimmajjan, Says Telangana High Court

The organisers said that three laddus would one weighing 900 ks and two laddos weighing 500 kgs each would be kept this time. However, they will complete the pooja and distribute the laddoo prasadam with three days.

With mandatory COVID protocols in place, the organisers will arrange for sanitizer tunnels, temperature checks, and mandatory masks for all the devotees. They have made clear that 'No Mask No Darshan', as lakhs of devotees come to see the idol, but with the COVID fear the numbers might be reduced. But the organizers are hopeful that things would be back to normal and the numbers increase this year.