Rituals over a period of time do get corrupted by human actions.
In ancient times the Ganapati which used to be brought home and then sent for visarjan were made of clay and covered with turmeric and sandal paste and Kumkum. They are natural products and do not pollute.
Modern times brought plaster of Paris and paint made of chemicals. The festival has a special relevance apart from its holy nature. The festival was a special effort to unite people by Mr. Bhausaheb Laxman Javale in 1892 in Pune during the National Movement. Though the festival is to celebrate presence of Lord Ganesha and unification of people it results in enormous water pollution caused by Ganesh Visarjan.
A lot of waste is left by the end of Ganesh Visarjanin water bodies that leads to water pollution. The residue of flowers, fruits, incense sticks in polythene bags create a dump on the beaches and shores of water bodies. Most of the idols are made with Plaster of Paris that i.e. Calcium Sulphate hemi-hydrate which takes several months to get dissolved causing prolonged water pollution. The colors that are used for decorating the idols mainly consists of lead and mercury that is highly toxic. It increase acid component in water that destroys plants and marine life disturbing the overall ecosystem.
People are mostly unaware of the water pollution it causes. It is important that we educate people with the alternate methods of celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi without water pollution caused by Ganesh Visarjan. Recently the Mumbai based NGO Sprouts Environmental Trusts has designed idols made with clay and stuffed it with fish friendly material such as corn, spinach, wheat and vegetable powder. They reduced the size of the Idol and decorated it with organic colors such as turmeric, chandan and gerua. Many such experiments are done with cow dung, sugarcane, alum and species too.
It is important to underline the fact that environment is our responsibility and we are not alienated from it. What we give the environment is only what is returned hence we must not only focus on using it for our purposes but also serving it.
Design a poster on a full page using pen, pencil, and colored pencil. The poster should only feature a slogan with no additional words. Express your perspective in no more than 10 lines.
Resource of text and images taken from - Credit
Comments