Ganesha festival celebrations go green in Surat

People celebrating the Ganesha festival in Surat, India this year added an environmental element to proceedings by constructing idols from clay and paper.

Onlookers between Bhagal and Chowk Bazaar watched on in awe as a procession of more than 28,000 Ganesha idols travelled past, according to members of Surat Ganesh Utsav Samiti. They were en route to be immersed in the river Tapi, as is the tradition.

Huge swathes of people lined the procession route - the pavements were filled to capacity with onlookers. Festival devotees gave out holy Prasad to the waiting crowds and moved to the beat of Independence Day songs and religious music.

The Indian festival is dedicated to the Elephant God and representations were put together of all shapes, colours and sizes. Camel carts, trucks and tempos transported them on their journey towards the river.

This year devotees of different Ganesha pandals adopted a specific dress code for the first time. A devotee of Ganesh Yuvak Mandal in Gopipura Vijay Mavawala said: "The boys wore kurta-payjama and the girls and women churidar. We had done this to look different among thousands of devotees in Lord Ganesha's procession."