Agencies/Mumbai

Elaborately-decorated giant Ganesh idols were sent out to sea off Mumbai yesterday as millions of Hindus marked the end of a major festival celebrating the elephant-headed deity.
Devotees ritually immersed in water thousands of exquisitely designed statues of the Hindu god, some 24ft tall, at beaches up and down the coast of India’s commercial capital.
The lavish celebration, which also saw singing and dancing on the streets, brought to a close a hugely popular 11-day religious celebration that honours Ganesh.
“Today we are sending Lord Ganesh home,” 48-year-old Praveen Jarhav said on Mumbai’s famous Chowpatty beach.
The festival is celebrated annually across India and is marked by Hindus in every corner of the globe.
This year’s edition commenced on September 17.
At the start of the festival, families bring the idols, which depict the one-tusked, four-armed Ganesh sitting holding a sweet delicacy, to their houses.
Mumbai Police Deputy Commissioner Dhananjay Kulkarni said an estimated 3mn people were out in Mumbai yesterday to bid farewell to Ganesh for another year.
Security was tight with 45,000 police officers on the streets and Kulkarni said that by late evening operations were going smoothly.
Besides the police, the State Reserve Police Force and Rapid Action Force were deployed, while helicopters of the Indian Navy and Coast Guard conducted regular sorties to keep an eye from the sky.