In the next two days, Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated across India. This is one of the biggest festivals in India. During this festival, people usually worship the Ganesha Idol, and later, the idol is taken to the ocean and immersed there. The Ganesha Idol is kept for worship for about 10 days across Chennai and other places in India. The idols are made out of plaster of Paris material and rarely out of different materials. There was a ban on using POP material for creating the Ganesh Idol as it is contaminating the ocean floors.
Apart from the common Ganesha idols that are kept for public worship, there are also smaller ones used in every house, which are made of clay material. That is also taken to river beds and oceans after the festival is over. In some places, people use POP for those small Ganesha Idols too. This has been the tradition for several years now. In recent years, people have started thinking about alternative solutions, and the Ganesha Idol has been created with eco-friendly materials, which is a great thing.
Two days back I saw a message on WhatsApp where people are selling idols that are created from Cow Dung. In the Hindu religion, cow dung is considered to be auspicious, and many pooja items are created using Cow dung cakes. Creating Ganesha idol from cow dung cake is also an innovative solution because after the festival is over, if the idol is discarded into river beds or oceans, they don't contaminate the water but instead they adds nutrients to the water and fish and other living beings in the water will feel happy about it.
There are some specific clay used to create these idols, and that has been a practice for a very long time. Only in recent years have they started using POP or other harmful materials that are not good for water. I'm glad to see this changing now with eco-friendly alternatives. In some places, people also add seeds to the clay Ganesha idols so that even if it is discarded, it help in growing a tree.
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