Indore: Ala… re Ala… Ganpati ala in surprising colours, idols, forms and compositions. This year, as covid-19 has affected every festive celebrations, Ganesh has shown interesting and innovative ways to bring home the lord and celebrate the 10-day-long fest.
Becoming more aware about after-effects of polluting and harming the environment due to careless acts, Indoreans have not only chosen eco-friendly Ganesh but also chosen to decorate and utilise the Ganesha idol for environment benefit.
From simple perspective designs to creating their own innovative edible Ganesh, Indoreans are ready to charm the fest and create a new best. Bringing some surprising innovations and inspiring idols of Ganesh 2020, we present the ‘Creative Corner’ of this year’s fest.
Turmeric tainted Ganesha prepared by 12-year-old Periyakaruppan |
Tainted with Golden Spice
Turmeric ‘the Golden spice’ holds immense symbolic significance in the Hindu culture and even known for its numerous benefits. Utilising the spice, 12-year-old Periyakaruppan Jaganath prepared the Ganesha idol this year.
Periyakaruppan is studying in Emerald Heights School in class VII. “I have been worshipping lord Ganesh since I was a kid and like many children, I wanted to bring home my friend Ganesh in a way that brings happiness and delight,” he said.
He feels that the best way to please the lord is by caring for environment and everyone surrounding us. “I used wheat, refined flour and natural colours of turmeric and beetroot to my biodegradable and environment-friendly Ganesh,” Periyakaruppan said.
He added that to paint ‘Mitti Ganesh’ many people use toxic colours that end up harming the environment.
White Ganesha prepared with Kheer |
First ever ‘Kheer Ganesh’
Due to coronavirus, most people have been staying at home and even working home. Bringing an idol home from market was a risky task especially in joint families. To help them prepare their own chocolate Ganesha at home, Rintu Kalyani Rathod held free online workshops.
“I taught over 2,400 people from 45 countries in a workshop and it is wonderful to see people preparing their own Ganesh that can feed an empty stomach on the day of visarjan,” Rintu said.
Adding another creative streak to the celebrations, she has come up with a new concept and idea of preparing ‘Kheer Ganesh’. “Though most people love chocolate, but not everyone and following the importance of Kheer as a wholesome food, I have prepared the first ever ‘Kheer Ganesh’,” Rintu said.
She also prepared 15-feet-tall Ganesh, which is probably the tallest in the country.
Das family’s taro root Ganesh |
Perspective is all it takes…
Simplicity is the way of life and perspective is all it takes to find lord for Das family. Instead of buying an idol of Ganesh, Das family picked out a taro root look-like of Ganesh to celebrate the fest.
Placing the root as Ganesh idol, the family is praying to it and believes in importance of simplicity and eco-friendly celebrations.
“The faith remains same even if the size of celebration changes due to the pandemic. Lord Ganesha arrives home in the form of a taro root (arbi vegetable),” Ashish Das, business development head at an IT firm, said.
Simple chocolate Ganesh |
Golden sprayed chocolate Ganesh
Home bakeries have taken an initiative to celebrate the festival with simple moulded chocolate. “To bring in the feel, we airbrushed it with edible golden colour,” Smriti Guleria, a baker, said.
She did not sell but gifted the Ganesh during the festival to promote the use of eco-friendly Ganesh. “The small and simple Ganesh dissolves in milk and can be distributed to people,” Smriti said.
Manure Ganesh prepared and distributed by Bhavesh Agrawal |
Manure Ganesh to salute warriors
Youngsters have taken a lead on setting an example for next generations. Saluting corona warriors, youngsters group ‘Bappa of LIG’ made Ganesh with manure and cow dung.
“We prepared 50 such idols and distributed them to IMC workers, cops and other corona warriors to thank them for leading the fight with coronavirus,” Bhavesh Agrawal, coordinator of group, said.
