What Is Eco Ganesha

According to the Puranas Shree Gauri moulded Ganesha from clay and breathed life into him. From prana pratishtha/jagran to visarjan, the Ganesh Chaturthi celebration depicts the circle of life - human bodies take birth, live, then die, just as each year idols are created from earth and infused with energy through shraddha and human touch of the sculptor followed by the bhakti of the devotees only to be returned to the elements, to be reborn again the next year.

The Vedic tradition was of making ‘shaadu’ (natural clay) idols painted with non-toxic colors. People used to immerse these idols in their private wells and village ponds. Omved calls for a return to this age-old tradition and offers eco-friendly, biodegradable Ganesha idols handcrafted using pure (lead-free) earthen or natural terra-cotta (shaadu maati) and painted with non-toxic environmentally-friendly colors.

To recreate the symbolic cycle of creation and dissolution in nature, one can immerse the idol with reverence in a bucket of water, which when the terra-cotta dissolves, can be used to nourish plants.

This celebration follows their eco-friendly Holi one, in the hope to motivate people to go green by increasing awareness about the after effects of non-biodegradable idol immersions and toxic chemical colors. The dream is that this will have a ripple effect and eventually create the necessary awareness in going eco friendly in all areas of life.

How To Make An Eco Ganesha

Procedure to make an eco - Ganesha:

Apparatus:

• Natural Clay
• Mould for the idol (Front and Back).
• Talcum Powder/Ash/Chalk Powder
• A Knife

The Process:

• The Natural Clay is mixed with water to form Dough, such that water constitutes only 40% of the entire homogeneous mixture.
• Now, Take the required mould of POP, and sprinkle its inner surface with Talcum powder/Ash/Chalk powder, for the purpose of lubrication.
• Fill the front mould with the Clay Dough, simultaneously applying uniform pressure at all points. This ensures Precision in the features of the idol.
• Repeat the above step for the Back Mould as well.
• Now, put the two moulds together and fill any visible void with the clay.
• Press the two Moulds against each for a small amount of time. Be Gentle in doing so, as Excess pressure can weaken the strength of the idol.
• Now, remove the top Mould CAREFULLY and any excess Clay visible to you with a knife.
• Your Eco Friendly Ganesha is now READY.

NOTE:

• The Idol takes at least a day or two to dry, depending on its size.
• The Natural Clay used here is easily available in any POTTERS COLONY.

PAINTING YOUR GANESHA:

• Make Sure you have Brushes of all sizes. You can use the ones, we normally use on our canvas.
  (Smaller the idol, Finer should be the brush.)

• Colors and their ingredients:

1. China Clay(diluted) –> used as a primer coat.
2. Natural Blue–> Extracted from Indigo Plant/Kalappa.
3. Natural Yellow–> Extracted from Turmeric/Marigold(Chand huva).
4. Orange/Red–>Extracted from Anato seeds / Marigold (Chand huva) (Orange)./Brick Powder(Red).
5. Gum Arabic–> used as a BINDER.
6. Green–>Extracted from Thumbe Soppu.
7. Brown–> Extracted form Katha.
8. Black–> Extracted from Charcoal.
9. Violet–>Extracted from Jamoon.
10. Gold–>Extracted from Mica bearing Clay(Powder form)

• Making The Paint:

1. 1. If Ingredients are:

a)      Plants/Flowers/Seeds:

Then squish it in a using a small stone,so that it becomes a paste.

b)      Powders:

These can be used as it is, but can be ground finer if needed.

1. Take the Paste/Powder in a vessel and boil it till it gives out the color.

NOTE:

1. Before using the colors, mix some GUM(used for paper) with it. The addition of gum helps the paint to adhere to the idol.
2. Creating Shades:

• Different Shades of the same color can created by adding intuitive amount of CHINA CLAY(diluted) to it.
• CHINA CLAY can also be used to make the dilute paint, a little more concentrated (thicker).

EXAMPLES:

Katha + LIME(Calcium Compound) results in  Dark Brown.

Yellow + China clay results in  SKIN color.

EXPERIMENT TO DISCOVER COLORS OF YOUR LIKING!!

YOU ARE NOW FULLY EQUIPPED TO MAKE YOUR GANAPATHI  CLEAN AND GREEN!!

Credits:

Regional Design & Technical Development Centre(Technical Wing)
Min. of Textile, Govt.  of India,
Bangalore

Estd. New Delhi 1958
Shifted to Bangalore 1961

Videos To Make Eco Ganesh