The festival of Ganesh Chaturthi is on in full swing, in Mumbai and people are taking special care to be eco-friendly this year. From making their own idols to doing the visarjan at home or in special tanks, here are some Mumbaikars and their ways to enjoy this festival while also keeping the environment happy.
Rintu Rathod, 50, Chocolate sculptor, Santacruz (W)
“I am a chocolate sculptor by profession and thought of creating edible Ganpati murthis. Over the years, I have made my idols from chocolate, rose milk, haldi milk, kheer (payasam) and am constantly experimenting with the chocolate I use. My idols can stay outside, in room temperature without melting. For the visarjan, I melt my idol in a pot of milk and distribute it as prasad to people and the less fortunate children. This year, my murti has five heads which symbolise the five koshas (five subtle layers of our existence according to Taittirīya Upaniṣad0 – Annamaya- kosha, Pranamaya-kosha, Manomaya-kosha, Vighnnamaya-kosha and Anandamaya-kosha. The body and one of the heads are made of Panchamrit, while the other four heads are made of Kheer, Rose Milk, Haldi Milk and Dark chocolate respectively.”
Shibani Patankar, 27, Publicist, Dadar (W)
We have a very unique Ganpati murthi. It is made from rice and my uncle forms the entire thing by hand. It is less of a murthi as it cannot stand but is made on a plate. We aren’t allowed to have idols at home (due to religious reasons) but since we wants to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi at home, this was a solution we came up with. We do all the rituals as one would do to a murthi and even do the visarjan at sea as the rice is thought to feed the marine life which is a good deed.”
Rohit Mavle, 30, Actor & Content Creator, Mulund (E)
“We wanted to avoid going to public places after the pandemic, so we got a shadu mathi murthi and did a visarjan at home itself, in a balti. Whatever mud remains, we pour it into the plants in our building afterwards. The cost difference also isn’t that vast so it is not more expensive than a POP idol.”
Sumit Yempalle, 28, UX Designer, Bandra (E)
“I have been making my own paper mache ganpati idol for a few years and this year too I have made my own idol. I create the base structure with crushed paper and then use a mix of glue and paper strips to strengthen the entire idol. I used to ask my neighbours for their old newspapers each year. Now, when the festival is nearing, they ask me if I need the papers. What started as a personal project has now become a community one. After the visarjan at home, I collect all the paper and then compost it so that is doesn’t pollute the water.”
Aviv Nair, 37, Instructional designer at emeritus, Borivali (W)
“We have been been getting Ganpatis made with mud for the last two years now. We had a white mud ganpati and even a red mud ganpati that came with a plant that could be re-planted with the mud that is used in the idol. We did the home visarjan for one year but it made us very sad to see bappa melting away over the two-three days. So we have started going to a local pond in our area and doing the visarjan there.”
Ashwin Patel, 28, marketer, Mira road (E)
“I am a part of the Om Shanti Mitra Mandal and we have created this eco-friendly idol made of teak wood and made according to the mudgal puran. It will last for the next 300 years and we wont have to make another idol. We do not do the visarjan for this idol, instead, there is a smaller idol right next to it which is made from shadu mathi. We immerse this idol in water, in a drum and use the mud to plant a tree.”