CHENNAI: Music at maximum volume, men with an orange ribbon tied over their foreheads, young boys dancing to the drum beats and women in groups walking beside the Vinayakar idols were witnessed in various parts of the city on the final day of Vinayakar Chaturthi.
More than 1,200 idols were immersed in the Bay of Bengal on Thursday and overall this year around 2,191 idols were kept in different parts of the city.
“Around 300 idols will be immersed at Neelankari on Sunday,” said a police officer. Around 15,000 police personnel were deployed in various parts of the city to ensure no untoward incidents are reported.
Devotees took their idols to Kasimedu, Foreshore Estate, Ennore and Neelankarai beaches for the immersion ceremony. When the idols were kept in the city, each pandal was allotted a policeman/woman for security.
At Foreshore Estate, trolley and tracks were laid to mobilise the idols to the sea and two cranes were also used to lift and drop the huge idols in the sea. Compared to the previous years, the police have made proper planning in which wooden barricades and ramps were made for people to move around to immerse their idols and also watch towers were set up.
Fishermen were roped in to immerse the idols and ensure there were no cases of drowning. Police mounted on horses were restricting people from entering deep into the water. Coast Guard boats were deployed for security issues and CCTV cameras were set up at important places to watch the procession. Traffic pile-ups were witnessed on roads leading to the immersions areas.