Eco-friendly devotion

Every year, Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations culminate with the immersion of Ganesh idols into the sea, rivers, lakes or ponds. As most idols are made from Plaster of Paris and, non-biodegradable chemical colours, the immersion ends up causing considerable harm to the ecology.

In a bid to protect the environment many people have installed Ganpati idols that are both innovative and eco-friendly in Hyderabad.

Idol made of food grains
Bal Yuva Mandal of Hindi Nagar, Goshamahal has come up with a good theme of ‘Food Grains Ganesh’. Previously Bal Yuva Mandal had come up with themes like ‘Make in India’ in 2015, Dry Fruits Ganesh in 2013, ‘Diamond Ganesh’ in 2012, ‘Gold and Silver Coins Ganesh’ in 2011, Navratan Ganesh in 2010 and ‘Pearls Ganesh’ in 2009.

This year’s idol is prepared by grains and they have used about 26 kg of Kabuli chana and Mung dal, 18 kg of Chana dal, 17 kg of Masur dal, 1.5 kg of Kali dal, 3.5 kg of Tur dal and other commodities to make the idol.

It took about 40 days for the eight-member group of youngsters aged between 18 and 22 years to make the idol, which stands over six feet in height. The best thing about the idol is, it is made of clay and the group has fixed the food grains and spices using adhesive.

“We placed an order for the idol two months before the festival with an idol maker in Dhoolpet. It was made of clay and we fixed the food grains and spices on the surface, the total weight of Ganesh idol is 400 kgs,” Vikash Agarwal, founder of Bal Yuva Mandal, informed.

Newspaper idol
Students of Jawaharlal Nehru Architecture and Fine Arts University made Ganesh idol by using 100 kg of newspapers and dry leafs. Every year they used to install a small idol of Ganesh made of clay but from last two years, they are making 10 feet Ganesha idol, which is made from paper, tissues and sticks.

It took about 32 to 35 days for the animation student of JNU to make the idol, which stands over ten feet in height.
“We used 25,000 newspapers, tissues and sticks. We also have used eco-friendly colours which we made in college itself. This year’s idol is 10 feet and it weighs 100 kg.” Jaya Laxmi, a student of JNU, Animation group, said.

A pineapple idol
Ganesh Mandal at Ashok Nagar, BHEL, has come up with an excellent theme of ‘Pineapple Ganesh’. Previously they had come up with themes like ‘Paper Ganesh’ in 2015, ‘Dry Fruits Ganesh’ in 2014, and ‘Coin Ganesh’ in 2013. “We are installing Ganesh since 11 years but from past four years we are installing eco-friendly Ganesh idols,” Ganesh Choudhary said.

“This year’s idol is prepared only by pineapple and sticks. In all, about 800 kg of pineapple has been used for the body of the idol and other commodities have been used for making the idol,” he added.

Take blessings and plant a tree
Talent Youth Association, Gautam Nagar, Malkajgiri has started installing eco-friendly clay Ganesha from this year. The Association has been installing Ganesh idols in Gautam Nagar since 28 years and this year they made all efforts to protect the environment. The Association also gives a plant to all the devotees and they ask them to plant the sapling in their homes, etc for green Hyderabad.

“Till now we have given 5,000 saplings. This is our move to save the environment. In coming days we will distribute another 5,000 saplings to the devotees,” Mohan Raju, organiser, Talent Youth Association informed.

“It took 16 days to make this 25 feet idol. We roped in a team from Kolkata to make the idol. We used only natural colours for the idol. We are also planning an eco-friendly spot immersion of the idol. We will dig up a small hole and use 15 sprinklers for the immersion.

We will use milk, and water from Krishna River and Rameshwaram temple for the immersion. We are also conducting competitions for essay writing, Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam for children,” he shared.