Ganesh Chaturthi is fast approaching, and everyone has started ordering their idols and planning their decorations. Most of us are now aware of the importance of using eco friendly ganpati idols.

Popularly, idols are made of plaster of Paris. This does not dissolve in water and forms a layer at the bottom of the lake / river / ocean which is harmful to marine plant and animal life.

We plan for months, bring Ganesha home, adorn Him, worship Him, celebrate Him, and then…

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This is disrespectful to Him and to the land and water given to us by Him.  We definitely need to do something about it.

We must be the change we wish to see in this world. I don’t get Ganpati home. If I did it would definitely be an eco-friendly idol. But I can still do my bit towards the change… help you figure out where to get yours!

Eco Friendly Ganpati Idols:

Eco friendly ganpati idols are mostly made of shadu, which is natural clay found on river banks. It comes from the water, and after immersion of the idol, goes back into the water, causing no pollution. These idols can also easily be immersed at home in a bucket of water. Once the clay dissolves you can put it into your plants or garden at home and keep His blessings with you all year through. Home immersion also helps reduce the traffic jams, crowds and noise pollution.

So let’s get right to it. Here are some of the places you can get your eco friendly ganpati idols.

(1) Ecoganesha

Ecoganesha has beautiful shadu idols from 10″ to 24″ in size. These can be ordered online and collected from their pick-up centres in Mumbai. (To place your order, visit their page here)

Ecoganesha has a great website with lots of information including a list of artificial ponds for immersion. Click here for a list of delivery pick up centres in Mumbai where you can go and buy eco friendly ganpati idols.

(2) eCoexist

This is a similar website for eco friendly idols in Pune. You can order the idols online and pick them up from the eCoexist office in Pune. (For more details, visit their page here)

They also have a list of stores in Pune where you can go and pick up your eco friendly ganpati idol.

(3) Tree Ganesha

This is a novel idea where your eco friendly Ganpati idol comes in a pot.

It contains soil, fertiliser and seeds, and as you water it for immersion, in a few days it grows into a plant. Watch this interesting video by them.

You can order your Tree Ganesha here. You can order these online and pick up from their offices at Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. In Mumbai you also have an option of home delivery of the idol.

(4) Puja N Pujari

This is a Bangalore based store that delivers eco friendly idols throughout India. You can select and order yours here.

You can also head over to their homepage if you are looking for a knowledgeable pujari or puja kits for any particular ceremony.

(5) Local Stores

Eco friendly idols are available at some of the bigger Sahakari Bhandars.  A friend got this pretty one from Sahakari Bhandar last year. You can check with your local branch and pre-order.

I have given links to list of local stores above. If you know of any more please add it in the comments below. I’ll update this list for the benefit of all!

Updates From Our Blog Readers:

This beautiful eco-friendly shadu idol was purchased in Matunga, Mumbai at Giri Trading, Modi Niwas, Telang Road, Opposite Post Office, Matunga Navjivan Society. You can contact them on 022-2411 8107. (Thank you Brindha, for this pretty pic and all the details!)

(6) Cow Dung Ganesha

This idol is made from desi cow dung and is completely bio degradable. It can be ordered online here and is home delivered all over India and many places abroad too.

(7) Make Your Own Eco Friendly Ganpati

This is inspiration from a friend. For most families, Ganpati ceremonies begin with going and getting your idol home and doing sthapana. For this family, it begins with making their idol. A couple of days before Ganesh Chaturthi, they go to the local potter and get home some clay. Their son then makes the idol himself at home. He is all of 11 and has been making the idol for the last 5 years. And if this pic is anything to go by, he’s a pro at it already!

This year they plan to take it a step further, and use pulses and grain for the decorations, making the idol completely eco friendly.

Can anything be more emotionally satisfying than making your own idol and worshiping it? I was moved just hearing about it.

If you want to try it and are not sure where to get the clay from, you can find it on Amazon by clicking the pic below.

Check out this video to make your own Ganpati from a ball of clay in super easy steps.

Another great option of making your own Ganpati is to use paper mache. This video shows how easy it is to make your own paper mache idol at home.

Once you’ve made your own Ganpati, you can give it a vintage distressed look. Sabita from @coloraaga shows us a really easy way to do it. She first painted her idol completely black using acrylic paints, and let it dry for 2-3 hours.

Then she took white acrylic paint and roughly dabbed it over the black, leaving it to dry again for a couple of hours. You can see the amazing result below.

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So we have lots of options for an eco friendly Ganpati celebration this year.

Ganpati Decoration Ideas:

Now that you’ve got your idol figured out, you are probably looking for Ganpati decoration ideas. You can read this post to see how we decorated our Ganesha with sarees and bangles last year.

In this post we decorated our Ganpati using all our glassware and candles.

If you use a lot of marigold during the Ganpati festivities, you can also get some really easy and pretty marigold decoration ideas here…

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Let’s do our bit for our Earth. Wishing all a happy, beautiful, joyful and eco friendly Ganpati. Spread the word…

Ganpati Bappa Morya!

Until next time,