Ganeshotsav 2023: Puducherry students prepare 15-foot tall paper Ganesha idol
Sep 16, 2023
Puducherry [India], September 16 : As the state gets ready to celebrate the Vinayagar Chaturthi festival, students from Puducherry have dedicated four months to meticulously design a towering 15-foot tall Ganesha idol.
This impressive 15-foot-tall idol of Lord Ganesh is an environmentally conscious creation, constructed entirely from 450 kilograms of paper, and stands as a testament to their commitment to preserving marine life.
Vinayagar Chaturthi festival is going to be celebrated on September 18 across the country. Adjacent to this, people usually worship Ganesha idols in houses and streets. People worship Ganesha idols at more than a hundred places in Puduvai every year. This year also in Puduvai various idols of Lord Ganesha are placed at important junctions in the city and rural areas and preparations are underway for worship.
In alignment with environmental guidelines, the local environment department has urged against using artificial colours in idol construction.
Under the guidance of their teacher, Krishna, the youths of Puducherry Tilasuppet rallied together to undertake this eco-conscious endeavour. Eschewing chemical mixtures, they opted to utilize newspapers and glue.
Following this, 15 youths and students went door to door and collected 450 kg of newspapers. With 200 kg of glue, the Ganesha idol was made by students in 4 months. The result is a visually stunning Ganesha idol, strumming a guitar fashioned from bamboo sticks and wrapped paper.
"When the idols of Ganesha are dissolved in the sea with a chemical mixture, the marine life will be affected. To prevent this from happening, the students of Vinayagar have made this idol with paper to protect the environment. Similarly, our students design many kinds of idols from paper. Now we have made the idol in a grand manner," said Krishnan.
The 15-foot, 650-kilogram Vinayagar idol will be displayed near the Government Medical College on Valudavur Road, inviting people to offer their worship and admiration, a student said.
The Ganesh Chaturthi festival, which falls in the Bhadrapada month of the Hindu calendar, marks the birthday of Lord Ganesha, son of Shiva and Parvati.
Also known as Vinayak Chaturthi or Ganeshotsav, the festival is marked with the installation of Ganesha's clay idols privately in homes and publicly on elaborate pandals (temporary stage).
The 10-day festival ends when the idol is carried in a public procession with music and group chanting, then immersed in a nearby body of water such as a river or sea, called visarjan on the day of Anant Chaturdashi.
The festival celebrates Ganesha as the 'God of New Beginnings' and the 'Remover of Obstacles' as well as the god of wisdom and intelligence.
