This Ganesh Chaturthi, Grow Your Ganpati Idol Into A Tree

Ganesh Chaturthi, a ten-day festival which starts on the fourth day of Hindu luni-solar calendar month Bhadrapada, is due in September. With an aim to keep the environment safe, artisans in Mumbai are adopting eco-friendly ways to make idols of Lord Ganesh ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi.

An artisan, Dattadri Kothur, has  been making idols using eco-friendly clay to promote a unique concept of 'Tree Ganesha'. The most striking feature of the idol is the fact that it has a seed inside and can be grown into a plant by pouring water after the festival ends.

"On the day of immersion, one can take the idol to their balcony, terrace or a garden and like the way they water the plants, they can pour water on the idol. The idol will dissolve and in four to ten days and a plant will come out of it," Kothur said.

Another artist, Rohit Vaste has been making the Idols of Lord Ganesh with paper so that it can be recycled later on.

In an attempt to go the environment-friendly way, even the decoration items used in pandals are made out of eco-friendly materials these days.