Mumbai to have more eco-friendly household Ganeshas

MUMBAI: True to the proverb, little drops of water and little grains of sand are making a positive difference to this year's Ganeshotsav celebrations in the city. Idols made from shadu (or clay) and papier mache are slowly finding favour with households that instal small idols that are upto 2-foot-to-2 .5-foot tall.

The change is yet to be reflected in the wayside workshops, however, which continue to rely on the sturdy plaster of Paris to create assembly-line Ganpatis. "Merely two or three workshops in the city exclusively prepare shadu or clay idols,'' Pestom Sagar Citizens' Forum joint secretary Vijay Sangole said; it was his housing society in Chembur that had pioneered the movement towards an ecofriendly Ganeshotsav. "But more Mumbaikars are seeking them out.''

Clay idols have a clear advantage over PoP because they dissolve quickly. "We also recycle this mud in the BMC garden that we have adopted,'' Sangole said.

One of the foremost idolmakers in the city, Vijay Khatu, has reserved some space in his huge Parel workshop for clay idols. "Clay or mud is a viable alternative for devotees who wish to instal small idols in their homes,'' he said. "But Ganesh mandals prefer large idols as the festival has become a public spectacle and we are wary of making big idols from clay. It is so fragile that the idol could crack or break while being loaded onto a truck.''

bella.jaisinghani@timesgroup .com