A 72-foot eco-friendly Ganesh idol is nearing completion in Nagole ahead of the 12-day Ganesh Chaturthi festival, with organisers planning to immerse it at the same site and distribute the clay for reuse instead of leaving it in local water bodies.
Named Shri Ashta Siddhi Mahaganpati, the idol is being built by the Tiranga Youth Association using natural materials, including clay, grass, wood and watercolours. Organiser Sai Mudiraj said the idol was about 90 per cent complete on Friday, with finishing work expected to continue for another two days.
“This year, a 72-foot Shri Ashta Siddhi Mahaganpati idol is being installed here. The idol is completely eco-friendly, and no chemicals or Plaster of Paris have been used in its making. We are using grass, wood, Ganga clay and watercolours,” Mudiraj said.
Fellow organiser Kotakonda Nagesh said the clay and other materials were sourced from Kolkata. Construction took about two and a half months and involved 21 workers working day and night. The total cost of the idol was estimated at around Rs 50 lakh, he said.
According to organiser Upendra Gupta, around 20 artisans were brought from West Bengal for the project. The association has followed the eco-friendly idol-making tradition for nearly two decades, organisers said.
The puja rituals will be conducted according to traditional scriptures. Organisers expect the celebrations to attract around 10,000 devotees daily for darshan. They said the immersion would be held at the installation site, after which the clay would be distributed among devotees for reuse.
The Ganesh Chaturthi festival is scheduled to begin on September 14, with celebrations expected to draw large crowds to pandals across Hyderabad.
