Eco Friendly Ganesh Idol
One step forward
The city is bustling with preparations, trying to master every possible arrangement as their favourite festival has arrived at their doorstep. Every year, the fervour and enthusiasm of Ganesh Chaturthi increases in massive amounts. People come out in large numbers to pay visit to various idols arranged at various public places and dedicate their prayers. Various families celebrate this festival by bringing small idols at their homes and worshiping it. There is pretty decoration, variety of food items, pumping energy and music and dance to celebrate the stay of Lord Ganesha. Every family, poor or rich, big or small is fascinated by the amount of devotion brought within them by the arrival of idols. Certain public groups come up with conceptualized sets and decoration to place gigantic idols and celebrate the festival.
Instigated by Lokmanya Tilak, the aim of this festival was to bring people from different mindsets together and multiply unity in our society. The celebration is spreaded over a period of two, five, seven and ten days and it ends with immersing the idol in water bodies. This is where the problem begins. A lot of times, after immersion (more popularly known as visarjan) people go back home and rest peacefully giving their bodies a proper rest and putting an end to the flood of activities. What most of us haven’t realised is the fact that the idols and their decoration are made up of non degradable substances like plaster of paris (POP), thermacol and plastic. Harmful chemicals and the dyes used in colours harm the water bodies after the immersion. Over the years, the reproduction of flora and fauna grown in water bodies has witnessed a substantial downfall. Deaths of these living beings have been threatening our life cycle. Moreover, the sight of dead bodies of various sea animals after a week of immersion is ecologically disturbing and thus the concept of eco-friendly Ganesh Chaturthi is gaining momentum in cities like Mumbai.
The city is bustling with preparations, trying to master every possible arrangement as their favourite festival has arrived at their doorstep. Every year, the fervour and enthusiasm of Ganesh Chaturthi increases in massive amounts. People come out in large numbers to pay visit to various idols arranged at various public places and dedicate their prayers. Various families celebrate this festival by bringing small idols at their homes and worshiping it. There is pretty decoration, variety of food items, pumping energy and music and dance to celebrate the stay of Lord Ganesha. Every family, poor or rich, big or small is fascinated by the amount of devotion brought within them by the arrival of idols. Certain public groups come up with conceptualized sets and decoration to place gigantic idols and celebrate the festival.
Instigated by Lokmanya Tilak, the aim of this festival was to bring people from different mindsets together and multiply unity in our society. The celebration is spreaded over a period of two, five, seven and ten days and it ends with immersing the idol in water bodies. This is where the problem begins. A lot of times, after immersion (more popularly known as visarjan) people go back home and rest peacefully giving their bodies a proper rest and putting an end to the flood of activities. What most of us haven’t realised is the fact that the idols and their decoration are made up of non degradable substances like plaster of paris (POP), thermacol and plastic. Harmful chemicals and the dyes used in colours harm the water bodies after the immersion. Over the years, the reproduction of flora and fauna grown in water bodies has witnessed a substantial downfall. Deaths of these living beings have been threatening our life cycle. Moreover, the sight of dead bodies of various sea animals after a week of immersion is ecologically disturbing and thus the concept of eco-friendly Ganesh Chaturthi is gaining momentum in cities like Mumbai.