Ganesh Chaturthi is now just a week away. And the idols have already started coming into the market for sale. In the past few years, eco-friendly Ganapati idols are being promoted on a large scale to avoid pollution. With the same thought, the Shree Vidyaranya Yuvaka Sangha and Bengaluru Ganesha Utsav team came together and organized a Ganesha idol-making event on August 25 afternoon.
More than 2,138 people took part in the event and made their own idols at the National College Grounds. The people used around 800 kgs of eco-friendly clay from Pottery Town and Chikkamagaluru’s tulsi seeds.
Record-breaking Gathering
The event was organized to promote the use of eco-friendly material for preparing Ganesha idols and also to break a world record of people gathered publicly to make idols. The Guinness World Record adjudicator, Swapnil Dangarikar declared that the team has convincingly broken the earlier record of 589 people and has now been listed in the book of records.
Interestingly, the major participants of the event were youngsters and children as colleges and schools from Bengaluru had signed up the students as volunteers. The convenor of the Utsav, Nandish S Mariyappa says, “We have been celebrating Ganesha Utsav for over 50 years and have, in recent times been conscious about going plastic-free. It is our duty as citizens of the country and the world as well, that we protect the earth and what better way than this? With Ganesh Chaturthi around the corner, it is a great way to create awareness.”
Students Learnt About Damage Caused Due To Immersion
A student, S Chetna who took part in the event said, “It was an opportunity for us to learn about the damage we cause during immersion of idols every year.”
The event was also attended by Dr. K Sudhakar, Chairman of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB). He said, “The board has been trying to stop people from immersing non-bio-degradable idols during festivals. Events like these help in creating awareness and give people ideas to find newer ways for eco-friendly immersions.”
