Visakhapatnam's Vinayaka Chavithi: bangle Ganeshas, film themes and an airport replica
Visakhapatnam marked Vinayaka Chavithi with elaborate theme pandals, traditional home rituals and a two-day immersion drive at city beaches.
Visakhapatnam observed Vinayaka Chavithi with its familiar rhythm — prayers and festive meals at home in the morning, followed by crowds on the streets by evening, moving from one pandal to the next.
Families wore traditional attire, prepared an array of festive dishes and offered them to the deity. Among the Telugu preparations were undrallu, kudumulu, modakalu, pulihora, garelu and payasam. Greetings and pictures circulated on social media, and residential apartments and gated communities organised cultural programmes of their own.
Streets across the city were dressed in colourful decorations, lighting and music, with pandals large and small drawing visitors through the day and well into the night.
Idols that drew the crowds
Several pandals stood out. A large Ganesh idol fashioned from one crore bangles at Sri Nagar in Gajuwaka and another adorned with one crore Rudraksha beads at China Waltair were among the biggest draws. A dancing Ganesh idol, also at China Waltair, attracted considerable attention, while idols made of dates at Sheela Nagar and cashew nuts at Gajuwaka drew their own gatherings.
Theme-based pandals were spread across the city. In One Town, several took inspiration from landmarks and religious figures, including a pandal modelled on King George Hospital at Chengalraopeta, one on the Sabarimala Ayyappa Swamy temple on Beach Road, and others featuring Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Kota Veedhi and Kalabhairava Swamy.
Popular Telugu cinema also shaped the displays, with themes drawn from 'Paradise', 'The Raja Saab', 'Youth', 'Peddi' and 'OG' appearing at different locations. One pandal in One Town was set up on a motorcycle beneath an ornamental umbrella.
A replica of the recently inaugurated Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport, near Cheepurupalli Uppada in the Bheemunipatnam area, generated particular interest, especially online.
Immersion and cleanup
With the pandals turning into festive destinations, heavy movement of people and vehicles caused congestion at several junctions. Beach Road saw a large turnout as the three-day holiday period ended.
From Monday evening, devotees began bringing home-worshipped idols to RK Beach and other designated immersion points. The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation stationed sanitation personnel at major beaches, including RK Beach, Jodugullapalem, Bheemunipatnam and Rushikonda, to collect puja leftovers such as flowers and leaves so they would not accumulate along the shoreline.
As the sea remained rough and high tide conditions prevailed, people were not allowed to enter the water. Trained swimmers and community guards carried the idols into the sea while devotees were kept back as a precaution.
Immersion continued on Tuesday morning. By then, plaster of Paris idols from the previous night's immersions had washed ashore at Lawson's Bay, as they do every year.