Do It Yourself- How To Make Eco-Friendly Ganesh Idols At Home!!

Do It Yourself- How To Make Eco-Friendly Ganesh Idols At Home

Ganesh Chaturthi is just around the corner and we look forward to many interesting traditions. This day is celebrated with so much joy and not to forget all the sweets, savories. We bring home an elegant Lord Ganesh idol, usually made up of Plaster of Paris and glittery stuff. This is a festival celebrated solely for the god of righteousness, moral and prosperity but what we don't realize is that Plaster of Paris idols are non-biodegradable and has toxic chemicals, synthetic dyes which when discarded into the water bodies after the celebration degrades the environment.

Fortunately, there are alternatives to this Plaster of Paris idol, and it's eco-friendly. They are the clay idols. Clay has a tendency to naturally decompose, hence is environmental-friendly unlike Plaster of Paris which takes years to decompose. Also, there will not be any colors or dyes applied to the clay idols. This makes it chemical-free. When these clay idols are dispersed in water, they easily dissolve and can be reused while irrigating plants.

How to do eco-friendly Ganesh idols out of clay at home?

1. Start by taking some clay and mix it with enough water to make a dough.

2. Now split the dough into four parts for head, body, limbs, and one for the small parts like ears, tusk, and crown.

3. Take some clay for the base and flatten it. Above the base, place a ball of clay for the body. This is one of the important part i.e. the tummy of Lord Ganesha. Make sure it is round, if not add extra clay to that part. The belly part and the base can be connected with the help of a toothpick or some drops of water.

4. Then the part of clay for limbs can be divided into four elongated pieces- two for hands and two for legs. The elongated pieces must be flattened at the ends and be stuck in the top of the body as hands. Create palms at the other end, make them look like a blessing, then carve fingers in them carefully. The other two limb pieces can be fixed below the body part as legs.

5. Now to make the head region, take a small part of the clay and fix it above the body part. Then another important part i.e. the trunk region in the face needs to be placed. For this take a small piece of clay and roll it in the shape of a trunk. It must be made pointed at the end.

6. Now for the finer details like ears, eyes, crown, etc. take tiny pieces of clay balls and fix them in the place of ears and nose. Then the crown can be made with your desired design. With the help of a toothpick, details can be carved in the face and other body parts if needed. A small round can be placed in the palm to denote a ladoo.

7. This finished clay Ganesh idol can be placed on a bowl with flowers, leaves, and other decorative things to add a festive touch to it.