The festival season has started in India. Ganesh chaturthi is the first of all the major festivals in the new year (after Ugaadi). Ganapati is regarded as the lord of the Gods and supposed to be the first to be worshipped in any kind of puja to make sure the events go unhindered ( no vighnas).
Ganesh chaturthi is celebrated in majority of the states in India. In many places it’s celebrated for a period of 7 days or 11 days with huge public celebrations all the days. People keep idol of Ganesha at home and do puja. Along with that there will be huge idols of different forms of Ganesha in apartments, associations, on the roads with lots of food, lots of sweets, dances, songs, performances – an absolute air of celebration the whole week.
This year because of the covid situation, everyone has been cautious to not have any public gatherings. The celebrations are going to be private in their own homes. Since it’s not safe to go out, the visarjan of Ganesha is also going to change this time. There won’t be big processions and immersing the idols in large water bodies. This made every one think and go eco friendly.
I think this would be the first time almost everyone went eco friendly. Those who can access mud idols got hold of them. many of these idols were available online also to be ordered. Others without access got creative and made their own idols – out of clay, turmeric, dough etc.
After pooja, the visarjan was simple. Immerse the Lord in a bucket of water and use that water for the plants. This way it’s zero waste and eco friendly. One more amazing idea that trended this year was the seed Ganesha idol. The idol was made of mud/clay and had some seeds in it. It comes along with a pot and some soil. After the puja is done, you are supposed to place the idol on the pot filled with soil and water it gently for around a week. The idol dissolves and mixes with the soil and after 10 to 15 days, the seeds are supposed to germinate into a beautiful plant.
I am waiting for my Ganesh ji to turn into a beautiful Tulsi plant. What a joy would that be to see a plant in the place of your idol.
Hopefully these ideas get carried over the coming years and be more environment friendly.
Posting some pics of my seed Ganesha here. Once the plant come out, I will be sure to update this post.
my reflections !!! 