GANESH FESTIVAL celebrating it eco-friendly

Friends we bring Ganpati bappa to our house worship him for 10 days and
at last put him in this way

Purpose of Celebration
Ganesh Chaturthi falls on the fourth day of the waxing moon according to the Hindu
month of Bhadrapada. Devout Hindus eagerly await the onset of this auspicious time
for the popular elephant-headed god, Ganesh, to grace their homes. The festival is a
great unifier, as it brings together not only Hindus, but also members of other
religious communities. The celebrations reach a climax with the immersion of the
idol in a body of water. The immersion and dissolution of the idol in water represents
the cycle of creation and dissolution in Nature.
Before 1893, Ganesh Chaturthi used to be an important family festival during the
Peshwa rule in Maharashtra, but that year, Indian freedom fighter and social

reformer Lokmanya Tilak transformed the annual festival into a large, well-organized
public event.
Tilak recognized the wide appeal of the deity Ganesh as "the god for everybody",
and popularized Ganesh Chaturthi as a national festival in order "to bridge the gap
between Brahmins and 'non-Brahmins' and find a context in which to build a new
grassroots unity between them", and generate nationalistic fervour among people in
Maharashtra against the British colonial rule.
Tilak encouraged installation of large public images of Ganesh in pavilions, and also
established the practice of submerging in rivers, sea, or other pools of water all
public images of the deity on the tenth day after Ganesh Chaturthi.
Under Tilak's encouragement, the festival facilitated community participation and
involvement in the form of intellectual discourses, poetry recitals, performances of
plays, musical concerts, and folk dances. It served as a meeting ground for people of
all castes and communities in times when, in order to exercise control over the
population, the British discouraged social and political gatherings.
One more thing of this Ganesh festival it is said that When Lokmanya Tilak was in
great distress and worried about our country's freedom. He used to sit at bank of
Girgaum chowpaty and wondered how to collect people. While sitting on the bank of
seashore he used to make idols and people used to stop by to see it. Such collective
movement was not restricted by British. So from there he got an idea to celebrate
sarvajanik Ganesh Utsav. He started the tradition of Sarvajanik Ganesha Utsav by
making clay idols
The Problem
Traditionally, clay was used to make Ganesh idols. Over the years however, plaster of
Paris (POP), which is lighter and cheaper, has become the favoured material to
mould these idols. POP contains chemicals such as gypsum, sulphur, phosphorus,
and magnesium. The dyes used to colour these idols contain mercury, cadmium,
arsenic, lead, and carbon.

With the immersion of these idols in the sea or inland water bodies such as lakes
and streams, the chemicals in these idols dissolve in the water. POP dissolves
slowly, gradually releasing its harmful components. The water experiences a rise
in acidity as well as traces of heavy metal. The toxic waste kills plant and animal
life in the water. In Mumbai, Baroda and few years back in Kankaria, Ahmedabad
dead fish were found floating a day after the immersion of Lord Ganesh which
was a common occurrence.

Plastic and thermocol waste, including polythene bags containing offerings, is

usually immersed with the idols. Because it is non-biodegradablemeaning that
it does not decomposethis waste simply keeps adding up.

Spiritual pollution and Spiritual science

The purpose of celebrating Shree Ganesh Chaturthi is to express our gratitude

unto Shree Ganesh. Instead, many people celebrate this festival just as a family
custom or as a social event. The immersion of incorrectly made Shree Ganesh
idol not only pollutes the physical surroundings, but also the spiritual
environment.
1. People select idols made of PoP because it is less expensive; however, PoP
idols attract very less Shree Ganesh principle. When the idols made from
PoP are immersed in the water, they do not dissolve completely. Due to
this, the remains of the idol are collected by the local government body
and demolished under bulldozer. This is a grave insult and denigration of
Shree Ganesh.

As our gratitude we should ensure the idol is immersed and dissolved completely to
gain the maximum spiritual benefit of celebrating the festival of Shree Ganesh
Chaturthi. The denigration of the idol occurs when it has not fully dissolved after
immersion, by becoming a part of it we incur tremendous amount of sin.
2. Idol made of from clay (shadu or chikan clay) as per spiritual science is most
spiritually beneficial for us. Idol made of clay has absolute earth element which
naturally attracts and retains the Deity principle for a longer period of time. When
these clay idols are immersed they dissolve in the water quickly and they
emit sttvik (spiritually pure) frequencies into the environment and this purifies the
environment benefitting the society at large.

3. Sometimes, the idol is made out of coconut, banana, betel nut, coins, etc. This
type of idol does not attract the Ganesh principle, on the contrary, due to incorrect
materials; such idols release Raja-Tama (spiritually impure) frequencies reducing
the sttvikt in the environment
4.

Some people buy idols which are designed in a modern way! For example, Shree
Ganesh riding a scooter, Shree Ganesh playing game of Cricket, etc. This is
denigration of Shree Ganesh which amounts to sin. Idols made in accordance with
spiritual science spiritually benefit everyone and also purifies the environment. If the
idol is sculpted correctly with spiritual beneficial material only then it attracts Shree
Ganesh principle into it.

5. The use of pop songs, vulgar dances, consumption of alcohol, etc. while taking the
Shree Ganeshs idol for immersion deprives everyone from obtaining the desired
spiritual benefits of this festival.

Conclusion

In Hindu Dharma, every aspect of our day to day life has spiritual significance. All the
festivals

are

celebrated

for

the

purpose

of

remembering

God,

attracting

the sattvikta, developing devotion unto God, etc. We can derive the spiritual benefits
only if these festivals are celebrated according to the spiritual science.

Our contribution
1. Some Hindus had launched campaigns against the use of Plaster of Paris,
as a result, a few State governments in Bharat have declared use for PoP
for making Shree Ganeshs idol as illegal. We urge you to explain the
spiritual science of Shree Ganeshs idol to your relatives, friends and help
in stopping the denigration of Shree Ganesh.
2. Using specially built immersion tanks

3. Despite the existence of eco friendly Ganesh idols, many people tend to
buy idols made of POP which poses a serious threat to the environment.
Artificially built tanks can be used for the visarjana processions so that
natural water bodies do not get contaminated.
4. Immerse idols inside your home with Visarjan bucket challenge

5. Small Ganesh idols can be immersed in a bucket of water inside your

home. Few people take the idols to sea, dip it once there and then
immerse it in their backyard. Such practices should be employed on a
large scale.
On fifth day of Ganpati festival Umesh managed to spend time with Mr. Gaikwad who
has completed his Doctorate on pollution of river water. Mr. Gaiwakd works with Tata
Motors.
Mr. Gaikwad and his team of young boys working in Tata motor and 2 college girls of
age 17yrs to 18 yrs told people to donate the Ganesh Idols and seeing the response
we had collected almost 450 nos of idol.

There is another message hovering around social media typically whatsapp, where a
lady has made Ganesh idol of chocolate and the visarjan of this Bappa would be
done in milk and this choco milk to be served to the needy/ poor kids.
Thats really innovative way of celebrating this festival at the same time keeping
the devotion intact
LETS STAND UP TOGETHER TO SAVE THIS BEAUTIFUL WORLD WHERE WE LIVE AND
SAME TIME SOCIALIZE AND EUDCATE OURSELVES TO CELEBRATE THIS FESTIVAL IN
BETTER WAY

!!GANAPATI BAPPA MORAYA MANGAL MURTI

MORAYA!!