Hundreds of people lined the shore of Clacton yesterday for the return of the spectacular Ganesha Visarjan festival.
The event is a Hindu ceremony which celebrates the elephant god, Ganesh – a figure representing wisdom and learning.
The festival is supported by the Hindu Cultural and Heritage Centre, in Clacton, and marks the end of ten days of prayer and celebration.
The event, which ran for three hours, also saw offerings made to Ganesh and a statue of the elephant god was carried into the sea before being lowered into the water.
Another statue was used in the procession of the festival, and both were hard to miss.
Adorned with flower chains and brightly-coloured fabrics, the two bobbed along the beach as hundreds of people carried them on their shoulders.
A group of about a dozen men then led one of the statues into the sea as the celebrations continued.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here