Eco-friendly idols One with nature

It’s that time of the year again when colourful and vibrant idols of Ganesha hit the market. ‘Ganesha Chaturthi’ marks the beginning of the festive season and along with new clothes and sweets like ‘modak’ and ‘ladoos’, one also look forward to buying beautiful Ganesha idols.

But this year, some Bengalureans are all set to celebrate this festival in a different way. Rather than buying the idols available in the market, Bengalureans are going the eco-friendly way with handmade Ganesha idols being the talk of the town. N S Chitrashekar says, “I started making idols as a hobby until I met my teacher S S Kukke. Then I started taking it more seriously. It has been 25 years now. I usually try to carve Ganesha ‘slokas’ on the idols. I also make idols of Gowri too.”

It is his love for theatre and his observational skills that help him gather ideas and give them a shape. “I use pure clay to make these idols. In fact, we do the ‘visarjan’ at home and recycle the clay afterwards. It has become very important to spread awareness among people to use environment-friendly idols. The chemicals used to make the regular idols otherwise are polluting our lakes and this can have serious consequences on one’s health as well as that of the aquatic life,” adds Chitrashekar.

Natesh Lakshman Rao, a project manager, says, “I learnt the art of making idols from my grandfather when I was six and I have grown up seeing my father and uncle practising this too.”

He says that until a few years back, they used to make about 30 Ganesha idols and give it to their relatives.Talking about how the lakes in the city are in bad shape, he says, “It is every individual’s responsibility to take care of what is left of these lakes. The practice of reckless immersion of idols in the lakes is harmful to the environment and is also a difficult task to clean them afterwards. It is good to see many people becoming aware of these facts now. Some of them immerse the idols at home and filter the clay and use it to make dolls for ‘Navratri’ these days,” he says. 

People are not just limiting their creative thought process to clay and mud, but a few of them are also trying out new ways to go green. The highlight here is ‘quilling’. Pragya Jain, whose passion and profession is quilling, says, “‘Reuse and recycle’ is something that I practice. Paper is one material that can be used in this way. It can be turned into decorative pieces and also to make idols during ‘puja’. Many people these days don’t want to buy a Ganesha idol from the market but prefer to get a handmade one. This shows that the awareness about the harmful effects of these chemically treated idols is increasing among people.”

She also points out that there are clay idols which have seeds in them that when immersed, will contribute to the green cover of the city in the future. Joyce Rodrigues, who also practises quilling, says, “Every year people spend so much money on buying idols that are not environment-friendly at all. So I thought of making something which is eco-friendly and also serves as a gifting option during Ganesh Chaturthi.”

The process of making these handmade idols is quite engaging and can enable the family to come together to have a good time. “My five-year-old son sometimes helps me with quilling and it is great to see him getting engaged in activities like this. These idols have a personal touch and there can be nothing more special than that,” she sums up.