Every year the nation comes together and celebrates Ganesh Chaturthi. Some make eco-friendly ganpati idols or some make Lord Ganesha of chocolates. But for the first time another kind of initiative has been taken by an NGO based in Madhya Pradesh’s Mhow town. The NGO has made an idol of Lord Ganesha holding sanitary napkins to inform people about the significance of menstrual hygiene.
Idol made for spreading awareness among people
The NGO named ‘Anivarya‘, which works on spreading awareness about menstrual hygiene and distributes sanitary pads in different places of the country. The NGO members have portrayed Lord Ganpati as a responsible one holding the sanitary napkins in both hands and promoting menstrual hygiene among the people.
The Lord Ganesha idol is placed in their office. Following the rituals, Goddesses Riddhi and Siddhi have also been installed on both sides of the idol.
It was for the girl’s freedom to menstrual hassles
A younger writer and also the founder of NGO ‘Aniwarya“ Ankit Bagdi said, “After film Bahubali hit theatres, the Lord had appeared in Bahubali avtaar (picture) on Ganesha pageant, so I believed why can’t he take this message ahead on menstrual hygiene,” mentioned Ankit Bagdi, ’. It is to be mentioned that he also has distributed around 20 lakh pads since April 2020 using his savings.
Further he mentioned, “We’re celebrating ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’, so I believed why not commit the pageant theme on girls’ freedom to menstrual hassles”.
Unique Ganesha idol around the country
There are several different and unique Lord Ganesha idols that artists from different parts of India have crafted with an initiative or for a cause.
In Gujarat, a resident of Surat named Dr Aditi Mittal, made Ganpati idol with dry fruits for.
She says, “I made this idol with dry fruits that have shells & it will be kept at a COVID hospital. After puja the dry fruits will be distributed among patients at the hospital”.
On the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi a Ludhiana-based bakery makes a Ganesh idol from dark chocolate. The bakery owner Harjinder Singh Kukreja said, “We’ve been making chocolate Ganesh since 2015 to send a message that we should celebrate festivals in eco-friendly ways”.
A sand artist named Sudarshan Pattnaik has made the idol of Lord Ganesha at Puri beach in Odisha using 7000 Seashells on it with the message “World Peace”. An artist made the idol using natural seeds, wood and shadu mud, to encourage people to use eco-friendly idols which are easy to make and also good for the environment.