Vinayaka Chathurthi was celebrated with religious fervour and gaiety across the south on Saturday, with prominent leaders, including Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy joining the celebrations in their respective states.
A festive mood prevailed as people gathered in large numbers to offer worship in temples and grandeur marked the occasion with the installation of large Ganesha idols in Chennai and Hyderabad, among other cities.
Prominent Ganesha temples such as the ones at Pillayarpatti in Sivaganga and Malaikottai in Tiruchirappalli, both in Tamil Nadu, and the Manakula Vinayakar temple in neighbouring Puducherry teemed with devotees.
Telangana CM Reddy participated in a well-attended Ganesh Puja at Khairatabad in Hyderabad.
JD(S) leader and Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy held prayers at Bengaluru.
Celebrations were also held in some temples in Kerala.
In Tamil Nadu, the famous Ganesha temple (Malaikottai Uchhi Pillayar) atop a hill in Tiruchirappalli was decked up for th