How to make your own DIY "eco-friendly" Ganesh Idol?

We all devour our heart and soul into celebrating the amazing festival of Ganesh Chaturthi but for the most part, we fail to pay the same kind of heed to our environment as well. Majority of the idols that we see and come across during the festival around the world are made up of Plaster Of Paris which don’t tend to be eco-friendly or good for the environment.

That being said, in this article, we are going to be discussing the easy steps involved into making your own DIY Ganesh idol that is not just eco-friendly but fun and easy to make as well.

Steps involved

In this section, we are going to be discussing the common steps involved in making your own miniature Ganesh idol.

Sectioning

The very first step in the process is to start with sectioning the clay dough into round balls for each of the body parts of the idol. You need to segregate them based on how big you want your idol to be. Make sure to make a list of the number of sections and the size associated with the same.

Pedestal

The next step after the sectioning is to start with the basic structure of the idol. Start by making the pedestal atop which the entire idol will be based upon. Make a small flat disc by flattening out the clay dough much like how you would do with the roti.

Atop that shape the dough to form the stomach and abdomen area and secure everything with toothpicks.

Legs and arms

For the legs and arms, roll the clay dough into small cylinders and secure them around the areas of where the legs and arms would be with some additional toothpicks.

Once the legs and arms are fixed in place, simply add some more detail to them by flattening the front of the palm region which showers the devotees with blessings. Make sure everything is flattened out and secure properly with toothpicks.

Head and trunk

The next and the penultimate step is to shape the head and trunk and place them over the stomach region and secure everything with toothpicks. Shape the trunk properly and make lines across the trunk much like how you would notice in an actual big idol.

Ornamentation

The last but not the least is to decorate the idol, paint it with bright colours and add in the little detailing to it.

Make sure to think about the environment when you opt for buying a Ganpati idol. Get the ones made out of clay and soil that won’t adversely affect the sea and river beds were the idol is going to submerged at the end of the 11^th day.