Daijiworld Media Network - Kolar (SP) 

Kolar, Sep 11: Some children organized mock Ganesha festival on Tuesday September 10 as they had holiday. They celebrated the festival on their own style by moulding alluvial soil into Ganesha idol. However, tragedy struck when they went in a mock immersion ceremony with the idol made by them and they unexpectedly drowned in the pond. The tragic incident, in which immersion ceremony happened to be the last activity of their lifetime for six small children, happened at Maradaghatta near Kyasamballi, Kolar Gold Fields. 

All the children who perished, plunging the entire village into the abyss of grief, were students of government higher primary school in the village. They have been identified as Vaishnavi (12), Rohit (10), Tejashree (11), Rakshitha )8), Veena (11) and Dhanush (7).

The children who had come together had made their own Ganesha idol with soil, installed the idol near the tamarind tree in the outskirts of the village, and performed puja to the best of their knowledge and ability. At around 3 pm, they together went in a procession to a pond located about 500 meters away for immersing the idol of Lord Ganesha. 

It is said that the children were caught unawares by the depth of the pond which was about ten feet. They began to sink as soon they set foot into the water of the pond. Seeing that they were drowning, two other children turned panicky and ran away to their homes. A farmer, Gantappa, who was nearby, rushed to save the children, but it was too late.