Mumbai: Ganpati Bappa gets spicy

Sri Sai Darshan Mitra Mandal that has been organising Ganpati festival for past six years this time made an idol of garam masala (spices and condiments) for the residents of Malad west subway. "It took us around 40 days to make the idol. It is totally eco-friendly," said Montu Ruia, an organiser at the Shri Sai Darshan Mitra Mandal. "There is global warming and every time we heard about environment being damaged. We decided as a mandal to create awareness about the nature and environment and how to take care of it," he added.

The spices used for making this idol include 9 kgs clove , 20 kgs cinnamon, 6 kgs cardamom, around 2 kgs chilly and around 1 kg mustard seed. The Ganpati weighs around 190 kgs. Apart from this materials like old paper, old cardboard, wood and rice paste were used to make the body initially. "The decor this year is of village hut. We wanted to tell people of the old times when women would work and how they lived in their homes," said Ruia. While the decoration will be reused or recycled, the idol will be immersed at a beach.

"Ours is a big idol and we are still getting aware of the environment friendly celebrations. The concern is still seeping in. Right now our mandal is high on traditions and believes in doing the immersions the way it was done. In the following years, we will slowly look forward to go for an artificial pond immersion," Ruia added. Such initiatives bring into limelight efforts put in by people to keep the environment clean and healthy.