Mumbai’s Girgaon-based Pahili Sutar Galli Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal will reuse its 40-foot fibre Ganpati idol for a second consecutive year, bringing it back from the seafront after a ritual water offering instead of immersing it in the sea. The decision keeps the mandal’s large idol in circulation and avoids creating a new large idol for the festival this year.
The mandal, which is entering its 65th year, installed the fibre idol last year as an experiment linked to environmentally conscious Ganeshotsav celebrations. According to information provided by the organisers and reported by Loksatta, the idol will be taken to the beach on Anant Chaturdashi for jalabhishek and then returned to the mandap. It will be dismantled and stored in a container for reuse in the following year.
The idol is associated with the mandal’s popular ‘Bappa Raja’ celebration. Sculptor Prashant Desai created the figure. Its height has increased from approximately 39 feet last year to about 40 feet this year, while the core idol itself has been retained.
The mandal has altered the idol’s appearance for the new festival season. Changes have been made to the seating arrangement, the position of the hands, the colour scheme, the prabhaval and the background. Mandal president Sudarshan Sangle told Loksatta that these changes would give the idol a different appearance each year even though the main fibre structure is being reused.
The reuse model also reflects the financial calculations involved in producing large public Ganesh idols. The mandal spent approximately Rs 8 lakh on the fibre idol last year, while producing a new large plaster-of-Paris idol every year would cost around Rs 4.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, according to the report. The higher initial cost of the fibre structure is therefore being treated as an expense that can be spread across several years of use.
The organisers adopted the model amid the continuing dispute over the use of clay or plaster of Paris idols, which has also reached the courts. Reusing one large idol for multiple years was presented by the mandal as a middle path between the competing choices. Annual changes to the colours, seating, hand gestures, prabhaval and other decorative elements are intended to maintain a fresh visual presentation without manufacturing a completely new idol each year.
The decision also changes the festival’s end-of-season logistics. Instead of sending the large idol into the sea, the mandal will conduct the stated ritual at the beach and transport the structure back to its own premises for storage. The same fibre idol is expected to be used again next year, continuing the experiment into a third festival season.
