Vinayaka Chaviti festivities conclude

The immersion of Khairatabad Ganesh idol in the Hussain Sagar Lake, passed off peacefully

Metro India News | Hyderabad

The immersion of Lord Ganesha idols, marking the culmination of the Vinayaka Chaviti festivities, which started on September 14, was underway here and other parts of Telangana on Friday.

Devotees thronged the immersion points at the famous Hussain Sagar Lake and at other water bodies in the city. The idols arrived at the water bodies in decorated vehicles.

About 30,000 police personnel deployed for security, crowd management and traffic regulation and more than 10,000 CCTV cameras used for surveillance, police said.

The idol immersions, which began on the third day of the festivities, have been continuing peacefully across the city, the event will culminate on Friday. The 69-ft-tall sized Ganesh idol installed at the pandal at Khairatabad in Hyderabad was the main attraction of the Ganesh festivities in Telangana. The idol has been named as 'Pancha Mukha Sankata Hara Maha Ganapati' wishing for removal of devotees' obstacles.

As part of security arrangements, 24 advanced drones and nearly 100 high-rise cameras have been deployed along major thoroughfares to monitor crowd density and facilitate automated counting of idols, police had said.

Personnel equipped with high-powered binoculars and wireless sets have been positioned on rooftops of elevated buildings along the procession routes, they said.

Balapur Ganesh laddu fetches Rs 39 lakh

The famous 21–kg Balapur Ganesh laddu fetched a record Rs 39 lakh at the annual auction on Friday with Sama Praneeth Reddy, founder of Urban Group Private Limited, placing the winning bid.

Way back in 1994, Balapur Ganesh laddu was sold for Rs 450. Over the years, the reverence for the Ganesh festivities grew by leaps and so has the desire for the Ganesh laddu. This year, the bid was Rs 4 lakh higher than the Rs 35 lakh fetched by the laddu in 2025. A customary tour of the 18-foot idol through the by lanes of Balapur was conducted after which the auction took place. In all, nine bidders participated in the auction this year. The members of the Balapur Ganesh Utsav Samithi offered prayers and sought rain, amid a deficiency in rainfall this year.

Rs 1.01 crore for 5-kg Ganesh laddu

A 5-kg Ganesh laddu at Keerthi Richmond Villas in Bandlaguda Jagir fetched Rs 1.01 crore at an auction this year. The amount was lower than last year’s ₹2.32 crore, when the laddu weighed 10 kg.

A group of villa owners came together to bid for and buy the laddu.

The entire amount will be donated to the RV Diya Charitable Trust, which uses the funds for various charitable activities. The tradition began in 2016 with a bid of Rs 25,000 and has now grown into a multi-crore fundraising initiative.

The trust supports 60 old-age homes, students, patients ailing from chronic diseases, supports animals apart from reaching out to the needy. In 2025-26, the trust spent Rs 1.66 crore on various programmes.