The upper portion of the Khairatabad Ganesh Idol can be barely seen from the ground as it is covered in plastic sheets to protect it from rain. The lower portion is something else where motorists stop, park their vehicles and click photographs. “This year, we have a 63-foot tall clay idol. This is 13 feet taller than the one that we installed last year,” says Raj Kumar, organiser of the Khairatabad Ganesh Utsava Committee.
Poised to be the tallest ever Ganesh idol in the city, this one will break the record of 61 feet set in 2019.
This is the 69th year of the celebration at the same location started by the great grandfather of Raj Kumar in 1954. The one-foot tall idol was installed by S.Sankaraiah in the locality that was among the few built when the City Improvement Board had a free run. While the area has changed with many multi-storied complexes and homes have come up, the Ganesh idol has kept increasing in size. Fondly called ‘Bada Ganesh’, the installation and the immersion of the idol in Hussainsagar is a huge tourist draw in Hyderabad.
