Ganesh Chaturthi 2019: Ways To Celebrate An Eco-friendly Ganesh Festival

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Ganesh Chaturthi is a 10-day long festival where various traditions and rituals are performed by devotees. People begin preparing months in advance before the actual celebration.

There are a few rituals that the Hindus perform during this period. One of them is bringing home the Ganesha idol, then comes installation of the idol (Ganesh Staphna) and finally, the immersion (Ganesh Visarjan).

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The idol is taken in a procession to a large water body like a river or sea for immersion. This has over the years become a trouble as it poses a threat to the environment. With all the products used in making the idol, immersion of gods' statues is contaminating the water bodies. Hence, the concept of eco-friendly Ganesh Chaturthi gains importance.

The following are a few ways that you can celebrate an eco-friendly Ganesh Chaturthi and also a few tips on eco-friendly Ganesh decorations that can be used during the celebrations.

Materials Used

Usually, plaster of paris is used in the formation of the idol. This takes a very long time to dissolve in the water and hence, its use contaminates the water. This can take many months or even years to dissolve completely as it is made from gypsum. For an eco-friendly Ganesh Chaturthi, buy idols that dissolve faster like idols made of clay.

Recycling

You can also use idols that are made of wood, stone and metal. You can symbolically immerse it by placing it under water and then using the same idol every year, if you are not celebrating in a temple and just symbolically doing it at home. You can create the water body in your backyard or just use a bucket of water.

Paints and Chemicals

You can also avoid using any chemicals and dyes. The paint on the idol will contain lead and mercury and this will contaminate the water that it is dissolved in. This will help the eco-friendly Ganesh decorations. The toxic and other paints from the idols will form a layer on the water surface, thus depriving the aquatic life of oxygen.

Immersing

To be able to celebrate an eco-friendly Ganesh Chaturthi, try and immerse only the idol, avoid all the trimmings. Along with the idol, there are a number of decorations that are made out of plastic, coconuts, banana leaves. All these are immersed in the water body along with the idol. If this can be avoided, water contamination will be a minimum.

Decorations

The myth is that you need to carry a decorated Ganesha through a procession and then immerse into a water body. You can use paper or natural flowers to celebrate an eco-friendly Ganesh Chaturthi. Garlands and clothes can be avoided when immersing the idol into the water body.