Market places across the city are buzzing. On the eve of Ganesh Chaturthi, people are busy making arrangements for the special puja offered to the darling of the masses — the elephant-headed Ganesha.
Local youth groups, neighbourhood associations and trades people are raring to go by installing giant idols of the Ganapathi in makeshift shelters and pandals. Ganesh Chaturthi brings people of all religion, caste and creed together.
One gratifying feature of the celebrations this year is that there is a remarkable increase in the number of clay idols. Walk through a market place or a busy centre where local vendors have lined up along main roads to sell the idols and the puja paraphernalia, a pleasing sight of the clay moulds greets you.
The welcome change indicates an improved awareness.
“Tomorrow, my whole family will be up by dawn. We’ll instate the idol and start the puja. There will be no pomp, no show, just a profound gratitude for the bounties of nature and a heartfelt prayer that next year is as harmonious and prosperous as this one,” says Purnima Rajan, a housewife.
Dozens of idol-makers who migrate from Rajasthan and other places to the city and live in makeshift tents in busy centres to make some money on the orders placed by the local festival committee members are upset over the growing resistance to the use of Plaster of Paris (PoP).
With schools, colleges, NGOs and the Government urging people to use only clay idols that can be immersed in the water bodies without harming the environment, an increasing number of families in city are opting for them. However, many idol-makers do not prefer them as it is a time-taking technique; instead, they go for casts in PoP which costs less and have been more commercial.
“With the popularity of eco-friendly idols gaining ground, we are fast losing business,” rues Narsingi, an idol-maker at Kanuru bus station.
Teaching the ‘Green’ way
The city unit of the APNGOs’ Association on Sunday distributed tiny clay idols at Patamata Centre.
Organisation president P. Ashok Babu said each individual must shoulder the responsibility of protecting the environment. “This is the only way to pass on a pollution-free society to the generations to come,” he said.
To send across the message of ‘Keep the Harmful Plaster of Paris at Bay’ loud and clear, CEO and Managing Director of APIMS Y. Ratna Kumar supervised free distribution of clay idols at the Nehru Bomma Centre in One Town.
He said more organisations should take up such measures to ensure PoP-free celebrations in the city.
