Ideal worship

With barely two weeks before the entire Mumbai reverberates on the beats of resounding dhols, Mumbaikars are amped up to celebrate Ganeshotsav. As the Ganesha idols sellers have started to line up on the sides of the roads, the preparations appear to come in full swing. Subsequently, the conversations for making environmental-friendly choices have also come in heightened force this year. While sarvajanik pandals are putting in measures to curb the use of plastic, it should be only fair for the individual buyers to make eco-friendly choices while buying idols for Ganesh Chaturthi.

The ubiquitous Plaster of Paris (POP) Ganesh idols that are usually priced at cheaper rates, and are easily available cause massive damage to the ocean and marine life. Activists and environmentalists have been trying to make people shift to a better option, and on the same lines Anand Pendharkar, a marine biologist, from SPROUTS Environment Trust says, “We realised that our celebrations and our lifestyle practices are majorly anti-environment.” And so the market today has options for the buyers to make smart decisions.

Innovative Options

For Dattadri Kothur, who invented Tree Ganesha, the inspiration to look for alternatives to POP came out of the need to benefit the environment. Talking about his idols that are gaining popularity over the years, Dattadri reveals, “Tree Ganesha is made from red soil and fertilizers. We put seeds inside the Ganpati idol, and then we put it on a flowerpot. On the last day of the festival, all you need to do is just pour water on the idol and in seven-eight days, you will see the sapling grow out of it. So you not only celebrate the festival but you also get a plant.” One can get variations in neem, tulsi, marigold, okra, and spinach, among others.

Moreover, Anand’s organisation has incorporated the ethos of sustainability by making fish-friendly Ganesh idols. Using clay as base, they also use put fish food inside the idol. “Inside Ganesha’s stomach, we create a hollow space and put a ball of noodles from chickpea, spinach, wheat flour, which is vegetarian fish food. So once the idols melts, fish can eat it,” says Anand. They also use natural colours like haldi, kumkum, multani mitti, and geru to paint the idol. They are even conducting workshops to help people make the same idols with raw materials available at home.

While looking for innovative eco-friendly options should be prioritised, one should not end up making uninformed choices. For the longest paper-mache has been said to be one such alternative, but Anand reveals that they are hazardous for fishes. “When you put it in the ocean, fishes breathe it, and it chokes up their gills. It is a biodegradable material, but it’s better when you put into the soil or recycle it for handmade paper,” he says. Similarly, alum should also be avoided.

Going back to traditions

The POP Ganesh idols have become the norm due to their easy availability. But there are some who have held up to the craft of idol – making using the clay in efforts of carrying on the traditions of their family ancestors. Since clay is naturally eco-friendly material, the popularity of these makers is getting re-vitalised.

Mandar Madhukar Shinde, who belongs to the third generation of the idol-makers can highlight this the best when he reveals that his grandfather stuck to making clay idols because of a legend. “According to the legend, the idol that Goddess Parvati had made was made out of clay, so the clay-based idols are believed to be pure. Whereas POP is a solution, it’s a chemical, which may be more preferable from the point of view of making profits,” he says. Mandar, who is originally a photographer, returns every year for four months in his grandfather’s workshop in Kamathipura to stick to the craft.

Another such illustration is of Vishal Suryakant Shinde who is the second generation of clay-idol maker in his family. “All this jargon about eco-friendly idols is only seven to eight years old. Initially, we used to live in chawl, so he started making it in clay, and since then, we have been making idols in clay. He never used POP, and since I was a child, my hands have only known how to work with clay,” says Vishal, who accredits social media as a driver of the popularity of clay-based idols.