Long Weekend Draws Large Crowds to Khairatabad Ganesh

Hyderabad: On Sunday, a large number of devotees gathered to seek blessings from the 70-foot-tall Khairatabad Ganesh idol due to the long weekend holiday. Visitors came from both the city and nearby districts to have darshan of the giant Ganesha. Former Minister Harish Rao also visited the Khairatabad Ganapati.

To manage large crowds, Hyderabad police have enhanced security measures in the area. Organisers have announced that darshan will be suspended on Monday to prepare for the idol’s immersion on September 17.

Bargavi M., who visited with her family and relatives, told Deccan Chronicle, “We came with our relatives who are from Karimnagar to seek blessings from Lord Ganesha. Despite the massive crowd, we were able to see the lord. The excitement among our group of 12 was quite high.” she said.

A traffic cop managing the crowd mentioned, “The crowd is continuous, so we’re using barricades to control the flow of visitors effectively.”

The crowd was especially heavy coming from the Imax side. The situation became more challenging after it was announced that darshan would end at midnight, leading to even more visitors.

Manikannan A, a clothing shop owner from Visakhapatnam, shared his experience with Deccan Chronicle: “I came to visit my sister here. My mother and sister had talked about this 70-foot-tall Ganesha idol over the phone, and we decided to come on the weekend for darshan. This is the tallest Ganesha idol I’ve ever seen, and the crowd and constant flow of vehicles are enormous.”