Eco-Friendly Ganesh Murthis

Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated as the birthday of the Hindu God Lord Ganesha.

     Let's have a look at history of the Ganesh festival. Lord Ganesha is elephant headed God, the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. One day Goddess Parvati was going to bathe but there was no one to guard her door. So she made an idol using sandalwood and gave life to it. She ordered the boy to guard the entrance and forbid anyone to enter. Sometime later, when Lord Shiva returned home, he met with the boy at entrance. They both didn't know each other. As following Parvati's command, the boy stopped Shiva from entering. Shiva tried a lot to convince the boy but he denied to let him in. Shiva felt insulted and got very angry. He ended up chopping the boy's head with his 'Trishul'. Parvati came out to see what had happened. 

     The moment she saw her son's head and body lying apart on the floor, she got furious. She was very heartbroken. She demanded to bring the boy back to life. It was Lord Brahma's advice to replace the boy's head with any living being who's sleeping towards the North direction. The first creature they saw was an elephant and brought it's head to replace with the boy's head. They infused life into the body and blessed him with the powers. He adopted the blessing that people would worship him before any other God and during every festival or new journey. That boy was none other than 'Lord Ganesha' and that is how Ganesha has an elephant head.

     This festival has no exact origin. There are mentions to worshipping Ganesha before but according to historians, Ganesh festival was initiated in Maharashtra during the time of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The Peshwa used to worship him as their Kuldevata (Family Deity) but later, when the Peshwa rule ended, people started celebrating privately in their homes. An Indian nationalist and freedom fighter Balgangadhar Tilak, also known as 'Lokmanya Tilak' brought the tradition of the Ganesh Chaturthi back. Lokmanya Tilak saw that Lord Ganesha is worshipped by the upper as well as the lower class in the every Hindu Indian family. So he chose this festival to unite all, to educate people about the freedom movement against Britishers. In 1893, Lokmanya Tilak organized the first Ganesh Chaturthi as a public and religious festival, in Pune.

     Since then, this festival has been celebrated as a social function throughout India. It is mainly popular in the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. It comes during the month of Bhadrapada (Hindu month), which falls in August-September. People worship the holy idol of Ganesha with great devotion for 10 days and later immerse the Ganesh idol in the sea on the occasion of Anant Chaturthi.

Here are some types of eco-friendly ganpati murthis which you can adopt in your celebrations :

• Tree Ganesha

Made of red soil, organic fertilizer, natural colour and seeds, the idol is designed to grow in to a tree after immersion. The plant seeds are integrated in the murthi. After the visarjan, you have to use the soil to plant the tree.

Tree Ganesha Website

• Clay

Traditionally Ganesh idols were made up of natural elements like mud, clay (banka matti) and grass husk. The idol was then adorned with natural and organic colours like turmeric. Clay dissolves in water, which can then be used to water plants.

• Chocolate

Rintu Kalyani Rathod, a commercial designer-turned-baker, crafted an innovative idol made out of chocolate back in 2014. You can dip your chocolate Ganesha in milk. Counted as a symbol of purity, visarjan in milk is pious too. Pour milk in a large pot and immerse the idol into it. Wait until the chocolate dissolves completely and then you can distribute the chocolate milkshake as prasad. 

Rintu Kalyani Rathod with her Chocolate Creation

• Fruit

Ganesh idol made of fruits is the most eco-friendly. It is also the most convenient way of distributing prasad.

• Alum

Alum (aluminium sulphate) or fitkari is soluble in water and also acts as a water purifier. 

• Fish-friendly

Sprouts, an environment trust based out of Mumbai, has been working on cleaning the beaches of the city for a while now. After 2001, it decided to collaborate with Oglivy and Mather to make fish friendly Ganesha idols. The idols are filled with dried corn, spinach, etc. and are made with materials such as papier mache and clay that dissolve in water. They are also painted with natural dyes instead of the usual lead and antimony, which are very harmful. You can place your order by calling +91-98201-40254.

Disclaimer : The above mentioned are not sponsored.

This blog was co-written with my dear friend Nidhi. Thank you so much Nidhi for writing the introduction and enlightrning us with the rich history of Ganesh Chaturthi.

Tell us some of your favourite festivals moments or traditions in the comments below ⤵️. Share this blog with your friends & family. Hope you guys enjoyed reading my blog, make sure to follow for more fun reads.