Bal Thackeray's ashes immersed in sea, rivers

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The ashes of Bal Thackeray, the Shiv Sena patriarch, were Friday immersed in the Arabian Sea here and many rivers across the country, a party official said.

Thackeray, who died Nov 17, was cremated at Shivaji Park in Dadar Sunday, watched by over a million people.

Thackeray's son Uddhav Friday immersed a part of his ashes in the sea. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj, who is Thackeray's nephew, also was present with his family members during the ritual, a party official said.

A part of Thackeray's ashes was also immersed in Godavari river in Nashik. The urn with the ashes was taken out in a procession in the city before immersion in the river.

Nashik Shiv Sena chief Vijay Karanjkar immersed the ashes in Godavari following a ritual in the presence of party leaders. The ashes were brought here from Mumbai Tuesday and kept in the Sena office for supporters to pay their last respects.

According to a Shiv Sena official, Thackeray's ashes were also immersed in the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati rivers in Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh.

According to Thackeray's wishes, the ashes were also taken to rivers in Harihareshwar, Haridwar, Varanasi and Kanyakumari and other places in the country.

The urns containing the ashes were kept for public view at Shiv Sena offices Wednesday and Thursday.

Accompanied by a few family members, Uddhav Thackeray Monday collected his father's ashes from Shivaji Park.

He took an urn to the Thackeray family residence while another was taken to Shiv Sena headquarters here.

Around two million people participated in Thackeray's funeral procession.