Banswara retired school teacher makes Ganesha idol with coconuts

Udaipur: More and more people are thinking about preserving the environment and planning to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi in an eco-friendly manner. In a bid to prevent pollution and make people aware of the demerits of plaster of Paris (PoP) Ganpati idols, Leela Ram Sharma, a retired school teacher in Badodiya village in Banswara, has been advocating eco-friendly Ganpatis.

These are made of clay, wood and bio-degradable items.

Sharma has not limited his initiative to just making eco-friendly Ganesh idols, he also creates awareness and trains sculptors and students to make them. This time he has created ‘Coco Ganesha’, idol made of coconuts which is a difficult task. Sharma has been working on this project upon demand by a Ganeshotsav mandal from Partapur which did not want an idol made from PoP. “The idol is 5.5 feet high and made of more than 425 coconuts, we’ve also used 7kg of adhesive. Nothing which is hazardous for the environment has been used in making this idol,” said Sharma.

According to Mahendra Pathak, a headmaster from a government school in Gadhi, coconut is a sacred fruit which is kept in every religious ceremony. Sharma has been crusading for the cause since early ’80s when there was no awareness about the harmful substances that polluted water sources after idol immersions. “I used clay and mud to make idols and popularized it by giving it free of cost to children and youth. I also told them about the ill effects of paint and chemicals used to make PoP idols. Gradually people have started realizing about the environmental hazard,” he said. Sharma specializes in making Ganesh idols carved from wood.

He collects waste wood pieces from the neighbourhood and carves them to give unique shapes to represent the elephant god. In Udaipur too, committees preparing for Ganapathi puja are advocating using eco-friendly Ganesh idols. Suresh Suthar, a clay artist in the idol-making business for more than a decade in Udaipur said, “We started making idols in May and have them in all sizes and colours. We have used only clay and have ensured that no decoration material of plastic or other non-degradable substances are used. ”