Pune bids farewell to Bappa as Manache Ganpati lead visarjan procession

PUNE: Pune’s traditional Ganpati Visarjan procession began from Mandai around 10am on Friday, with the five Manache Ganpati moving in sequence towards Belbaug Chowk and Alka Talkies Chowk.The first idol, Kasba Ganpati, reached the Lokmanya Tilak statue at Mandai at 9.38am, following the morning aarti, and the procession got underway shortly afterwards.Kasba Ganpati left Mandai at 9.45am and reached Belbaug Chowk at 10.30am. Tambdi Jogeshwari followed, leaving Mandai at 10am and reaching Belbaug at 11.25am.Guruji Talim left at 10.15am and reached Belbaug at 11.30am. Tulshibaug, which left Mandai at 10.45am, reached Belbaug at 1.55pm, while Kesariwada, the fifth Manacha Ganpati, left Mandai at 11.10am and reached Belbaug around 3pm.By 11.20am, Kasba was moving along Laxmi Road towards Alka Chowk, Tambdi Jogeshwari had reached Belbaug, Guruji Talim was just before the chowk, Tulshibaug was on its way from Mandai and Kesariwada had reached Mandai.The procession then moved steadily towards Alka. At 2pm, Tulshibaug reached Belbaug, with the crowd making way for an ambulance. By 2.40pm, Kasba Ganpati was nearing Alka Talkies Chowk.At 3pm, Kesariwada had crossed Belbaug and was moving ahead.The five Manache Ganpati are taking the four traditional routes towards Alka Talkies Chowk, where the routes converge. Pune Police have deployed 10,000 personnel for the immersion arrangements.Meanwhile, Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati was scheduled to begin its immersion procession at 4pm after the afternoon aarti.The mandal’s published route takes the procession from the temple towards Belbaug Chowk, Ganpati Chowk and the Sambhaji Maharaj bridge before immersion.As of 5pm, the Manache Ganpati procession was still moving through the procession route, while Dagdusheth had begun its scheduled afternoon procession.The procession was continuing, with the city’s four main routes feeding into Alka Chowk.