Worship with a green turnover

MUMBAI: It's a familiar scene in every temple – heaps of flowers, wilting or rotting, long after offerings have been given and taken away by worshippers or thrown into the temple tanks or streams nearby, with no suitable mode of disposal. A few temples in Mumbai are now combining the best practices of faith and sustainable living — turning everyday floral offerings into compost, ensuring a dignified disposal that in turn, enriches the soil.

The initiative came from Vishwa, an organization dedicated to sustainable measures for conserving the environment, which convinced a few temples in the area to convert the 'nirmalya' (floral offerings) into manure by composting it. The Parasuram temple at Walkeshwar, in south Mumbai, agreed to house a pit to allow composting, and a beginning was made last month. Neighbouring temples are expected to join the initiative soon.

“For years, I have seen how floral offerings in Baganga temples are often thrown into the sea, just three minutes away. So, we talked with some of the temple managements and they have agreed to opt for vermiculture,” says Yogendra Vora, convener of Vishwa. The offerings are emptied into a pit layered with clay, mud and water to aid recycling, in the Purshuram Mandir. In 3-4 months, the offerings will turn into organic compost.

Sandeep Akerkar, trustee of Walkeshwar temple and Banganga tank says many in the temple did not want the offerings to be carted away to a municipal dustbin but the other option was to dump it in the sea, which would draw flak from the municipality. "By composting, the offerings get dignity and in the bargain, the environment gets enriched as well," says Akerkar.

There are at least 20 temples in the Banganga area of Walkeshwar, the former getting its name from a tributary of the Ganga believed to have surfaced when Lakshman shot an arrow to bring water to a thirsty Lord Rama Most temples immerse flowers in the Banganga tank but "prayer should not be conducted at the cost of the environment", points out Vora.

"During the lean season, the volume of offerings ranges from 2-3 kilos a day. During Sravan (the ongoing season), it jumps to 7-8kg of flowers. Often, these are thrown in the Banganga pond along with plastic bags, oil and kumkum, which contains acid, resulting in the death of fish in the pond," says Akerkar.

Five years ago, Subhash V Mayekar, chairman of the trust of Mumbai's famous Shree Siddhivinayak Ganpati Mandir, spoke to then municipal commissioner for a composting pit for temples in Mumba Devi, Babulnath, Mahalaxmi and Haji Ali dargah. "But I did not get any response from him," says Mayekar. With a beginning made afresh in Walkeshwar, green worship might be in.