The Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in the south coastal Andhra Pradesh appear to be more eco-friendly this year, thanks to the relentless campaign launched by civil society organisations against the use of Plaster of Paris and harmful chemicals in the making of the idols.
Corn came in handy for miniature artist Ameer Jan who made 666 images of the Lord with zero-size brush in Nellore. He used acrylic colour to paint miniature images of Lord Vigneswara on the yellow kernels of maize without using a microscope. The painstaking effort took a little over six hours.
‘’I am trying to create sensitise the people against the use of Plaster of Paris (PoP) during the celebrations. Beautiful idols can be made up of eco-friendly material including grains,” said Mr. Ameer Jan while giving the finishing touches to the idols.
He has made it to the record books in the past by painting 1,296 miniature Ganesh idols within a big idol of the Lord. He also used coconut to make 2,000 miniature idols of the Lord.
In Ongole, social activists led by G. Veerbhadrachari of Volunteer Environment Organisation distributed clay idols to people.
Apples were arranged in a pattern at Samata Nagar in Ongole for the nine-day Ganesh Navaratri celebrations. The fruits will be distributed among the devotees as prasadam, said pandal organiser K. Srinivasa Rao.
Coconuts were beautifully arranged to get an attractive image of Lord Lambodara in Srinivasa Colony. A large volume of turmeric was used to make a big image of the Lord by G. Subba Rao in an apartment near the Court Centre. Burnt dry grass was used to decorate the eco-friendly image.
With the sediments specially procured from the Ganga river in West Bengal, the Society for Awareness and Vision on Environment (SAVE) churned out hundreds of environment-friendly idols. Bamboo sticks, paddy straw and husk among the other ingredients were used to make idols. Jute bags and handloom cloth were distributed free of cost to the devotees to shun the non-bio-degradable Plaster of Paris. The move also extends a helping hand to the artisans and handloom weavers who are struggling to make a living, said SAVE convener M. Rachana.
