Best from Waste: South East Central Railway crafts 12-foot Ganesh idol from scrap in Raipur

Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], September 3 : A unique Ganesh Chaturthi celebration is underway at the South East Central Railway Wagon Repair Shop, where railway employees are crafting a 12-foot idol of Lord Ganesha entirely from scrap materials. This effort is turning discarded train parts into a symbol of the festival.
Typically, Ganesha idols are made from plaster of Paris and straw wood, but this year's project is different. The workshop's team is using old railway scrap to form the idol. The trunk of Ganesha will be crafted from springs, while the coils will be fashioned from nuts and bolts.
Artist Ashok Devangan, a South East Central Railway Wagon Repair Shop employee who has been creating artwork from scrap for the last 15 years, explained the process. "In Raipur's wagon repair shop, where goods trains are repaired, a lot of railway scrap comes out. For the last 15 years, I have been creating artwork here. Children come here for training, and they come from other states as well. About 15-20 days ago, some children came from Maharashtra for training and made a basic idol of Lord Ganesha from scrap. After they went back, we started making the idol. Now, with four to five people, we are engaged in completing it. We are making this 12-foot Ganesha from scrap."


Devangan further elaborated on the project's details, "The 12-foot idol is made from around a thousand kilos of scrap. The teeth and earrings of Lord Ganesha are also made from springs and nuts and bolts. We will perform a pooja during Ganesh Chaturthi and install the idol in our auditorium for an exhibition."
Amit Mandal, one of Devangan's associates, said, "We are making the Ganesha idol under the guidance of our sir. A team of four people is involved in the process. We are welding different metals together to create the idol. The teeth of the idol are made from springs."