Ganesh Visarjan 2026: The Different Rules Being Introduced Across India

Different states across India are following different methods for Ganesh Visarjan this year, while an unusual incident in Andhra Pradesh saw rainfall on idols placed on a dry riverbed.

How Ganesh Visarjan Is Being Done Differently Across India

Ganesh Visarjan is usually the final and emotional part of the festival, when devotees take their idols to a water body and bid farewell to Lord Ganesha. But across India, the way this ritual is being carried out is changing.

This year, different states are taking very different steps.

Delhi

Delhi has banned direct Ganesh idol immersion in the Yamuna and is preparing around 90 artificial ponds for Visarjan.

Delhi is also doing something different this year. Officials will collect water samples from the Yamuna before and after the immersion period to check whether the festival has any effect on the river's water quality. They will also monitor the ghats and Delhi's borders to prevent idols from being immersed directly in the Yamuna.

Telangana

In Mancherial, Telangana, devotees have been asked to travel around 34 km to immerse their Ganesh idols.

Usually, idols are immersed near Indaram in the Godavari. But there is not enough water at that location this year, so Gudem village is the new immersion point. In some areas, idols are also being geo-tagged to help authorities keep track of them.

Police have also arranged expert divers at the new location and asked organisers to keep children and elderly people away from the water during immersion.

Nagpur

Nagpur has introduced a very visible rule for Plaster of Paris (PoP) Ganesh idols.

PoP idols that are sold have a clearly visible circular red mark on the back. PoP idols can also be immersed only in artificial ponds created by local authorities, instead of natural water bodies.

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is planning a much bigger change. The state government plans to stop Ganesh idol immersion in natural water bodies from 2027.

Officials are looking at artificial ponds and other locations instead.

The Greater Chennai Corporation has proposed moving around 450 idols from Palavakkam Beach to Kovalam and around 250 idols from Pattinapakkam to Ennore so that the number of idols is distributed across different locations.

Andhra Pradesh

In an interesting incident this year, many videos from Andhra Pradesh are going viral for their Ganpati Visarjan.

But when devotees arrived at the Chitravathi River for the Visarjan, they found that the river had completely dried up. Instead of water, the riverbed was covered with sand. So, with no other option, they carried out the Visarjan by keeping the Ganesh idols on the dry riverbed.

Suddenly, after this, the area received very heavy rainfall. It was the heaviest rainfall in a decade in the region.

The Ganpati idols kept on the dry riverbed were showered with fresh rain, which many people saw as a divine miracle.

For the farmers who performed the pooja, it felt like their prayers had finally been answered.

 

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