In the afternoon there were mostly smaller Ganesha's, being brought by families from their homes. First a lot of chanting while arriving, then puja and then specially assigned men will put the Ganesha in a basin filled with water from the lake.
(Monica & Ian, please note the Costa Coffee in the back!!!)
When it wasn't too busy they dunked the Ganesha 3 times before letting it go under water, but when it got busier they were just pushed in and some people just threw their Ganesha over the fence in the water.
These women were more interested in the sail boats on the lake then the Ganeshas.
This group took their time for a photo moment. The guy in front, left, with the big moustache was their leader. He made quite a scene about the fact that their Ganesha was to be put in the water further to the middle of the basin, but the guys in the yellow t-shirts refused and the police had to come in to calm them down.
From 19:00 hour the bigger Ganeshas arrived by truck or bus. Because they were too heavy to lift, they were put on a platform and lifted by a crane to the middle of the basin and pushed into the water from there.
Not a very safe procedure, but safer than walking down the steps into the water and risking losing your balance. Many people have drowned that way over the years.
The guy in the middle of the last photo scared the hell out of us by taking a small child with him on the platform....
After this we left, we had seen enough Ganeshas for this festival and the crowd was getting a bit too rowdy and drunk for our liking.
This festival kicked off the festival season, so more colourful and noisy times will follow.
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