Eco-Friendly Ganesh Chaturthi: Ganapati Idols That Grow Into Plants After Immersion

One of the biggest festival of the year, Lord Ganesha’s birthday Ganesh Chaturthi is just around the corner and like every other year, water and air pollution will go up in many parts of our country as hundreds of thousands of people will gather to immerse Ganpati idols into the water bodies. Since the idols are made from Plaster of Paris these are non-biodegradable naturally and so these continue to float on the water for a long time thereby choking the water bodies and adversely impacting aquatic ecosystem. Adding to the problem, the idols are often decorated with paints heavy on lead and mercury which adds to the ongoing process of destroying the flora and fauna of the water body.

To fight these challenges during the festival and to protect the environment, four childhood friends who were always passionate about gardening, environment and planting trees, Sudhakar, Bharat, Puneet and Vivek, from Bengaluru came up with Sasya Ganapathi, an eco-friendly Ganesha Puja kit. In Kannada, Sasya means plant, thus the kit provided by these swachh warriors help devotees go green by converting the idols after visarjan into plants.

Also Read: Ganesh Chaturthi: Hyderabad Builds 15 New Ponds To Immerse Ganpati Idols In A Bid To Reduce Water Pollution

Meet Team Sasya Ganapathi – Sudhakar and Bharat

We celebrate a festival for a good cause, but if the festival is hampering the nature in any way then it is a sin. During the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, almost every other person welcomes Ganesha idols. However, these idols are mostly made of plaster of Paris that causes more harm to our environment than any good. Through Sasya Ganapathi we aim to celebrate the biggest festival of the year in a green way, the kit will help people plant a tree thereby reducing global warming and protect our already dying water bodies, says 23-year-old Sudhakar.

Also Read: Ganpati Bappa Morya! This Ganesh Chaturthi Mumbaikars Go Green With Eco-Friendly Ganpati Idols Made Of Cow Dung

The idea to make environment friendly Ganesha idols came to these swachh crusaders back in 2016 when India was celebrating World Environment Day. At that time, Sudhakar was in the final year of B.com, Bharat and Puneet were doing BCA and Vivek was in the final semester of his engineering course.

The friends thought of combining their passion for planting trees and making eco-friendly ganesh idols together. After a research spanning almost one year, they came up with an environmental friendly Ganesha Puja kit and finally launched it on June 1, 2017. Till now they have sold almost 1000 idols within Bengaluru and hope that the reach will grow more and more with every passing year.

All About The Sasya Ganapathi Kit

Here’s the guide on how you can go green and celebrate eco-friendly Ganesh Chaturthi

The green kit contains one ganpati idol which is made using natural clay, potting mix and organic fertilizer and is painted in organic colours. Apart from a ganpati idol there is a terracotta non fading coloured pot made with plastic, nutrient block that expands into growing soil and an organic seeds packet (Tomato/ bendi / Tulsi any one will be available in the kit).

The kit comes with a detailed manual instruction for the user so as they can do a Visarjan in a green way. Explaining the method of the Visarjan, Sudhakar added, it’s time we fight an age-old tradition of visarjan of idols into our water bodies, we can do a visarjan in a much safer way. Keeping the tradition of water and visarjan in mind, we have made this green kit. First fill water in the pot we have provided in the kit, and then immerse the idol in that water followed by adding the nutrient block which acts as a growing soil. Leave it for a day and come to it the next day, by then the soil will expand and cover the whole pot, now all you have to do is to add the seeds we have provided in the kit. Remember to put the seeds at a distance and sow them 1 inch deeper. Soon, your ganesha will be turned into a plant.

The cost of the kit is Rs. 1501, one can place an order through their website, and the team ships the kit across India for free.

Sudhakar, the Swachh champion signs off by adding, It is our duty to protect the environment, on this Ganesh Chaturthi, let’s give ganesha a green goodbye. Pledge to save the nature by opting for greener and healthier alternatives. We are doing our bit to conserve our depleting planet, now it is time for people to make this green switch.