Nothing beats the grandeur of the widely-celebrated festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, but the revered deity has often received an ungraceful send-off during immersion into the sea. This year, the Marathi community in Auckland will be using an eco-friendly idol for ‘visarjan’, or immersion.
Over the years, visarjan has had a legacy of leaving a mess of partially dissolved idols washing up on the beaches of India. However, eco-friendly idols have become the trend, and the Auckland Marathi Association plans to celebrate the grand festival without harming the environment.
“We have received permission from [Auckland] council for the immersion, and we are only allowed if it [the idol] is eco-friendly,” says President Neha Nalwade.
The idols are made in India using biodegradable materials, such as clay and cardboard, and are widely available in Auckland as well, with the idol expected to be larger for this year’s edition.
“Because this is for an organisation, we do want a larger idol compared to what we have in our house. At least…20 to 22 inches,” Nalwade says.
Many Indian households in Auckland have bought smaller versions of the eco-friendly idol, mainly due to its minimal impact on the environment.
“[The trend began] at least about…eight years ago. It’s just that it’s good for the environment…the previous idols were made from…Plaster of Paris. It doesn’t dissolve and it floats on the water, and it is very harmful to the environment as well,” she says. The remnants of the eco-friendly idol can also be used as soil for gardening.
This edition will also be the first time in years the association will be carrying out visarjan in the traditional manner, at the beach.
“It hasn’t been done for the past five years because of Covid, and also, we used to have…the event in the evening and by the time they finished it used to be midnight. So, we wouldn’t take it at the sea, we would just do it at our house,” Nalwade says.
This year’s festivities will also include a live instrumental performance, or ‘dhol-tasha’, which has been ordered from India for the first time.
“The dhol-tasha performance is a replica of what happens in India when we are doing visarjan. On the 10th day, when they take the idol to be immersed in the sea, there are these big troupes that perform dhol-tasha…so we are trying to replicate that over here in Auckland,” she says.
Devotees began observing the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi on September 19, and the celebrations will continue till September 28. The visarjan and the performance of the live dhol-tasha will be held on September 30 at Freemans Bay Community Centre, which will be organised by the Auckland Marathi Association.
The celebrations on the day will commence with a pooja, followed by cultural performances, lunch, and the immersion of the idol, which will take place between 3.30 pm to 4 pm.
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