First ever an eco-friendly huge Goddess idol! Look-alike of Maa Harsiddhi made with wood, cloth, grass, soil & iron

In a first, Indore’s Navratri Festival will feature an eco-friendly huge Goddess idol and will not hurt the environment with Plastic of Paris (PoP) idol. This is the first time in the state and perhaps country, where Goddess idol has been prepared with wood, cloth, iron, grass, and soil.
Goddess idols are usually grand and prepared with PoP. While eco-friendly Ganesha idols are a usual norm now, beautiful Goddess idols are still made with PoP.
However, bringing a change to this tradition and countering the short comings, Indore will feature the first-ever eco-friendly goddess idol at Jairampur Colony in Indore.
“We want Indore to continue to be the cleanest city and it’s not just about clean roads, but an overall clean and sustainable life, so we decided to take the initiative of building an eco-friendly Goddess idol for the first time,” Anil Aaga from organising committee said.
The proposal reached two special artists, who agreed and innovated a special technique to overcome short-comings of eco-friendly idols.
Why craftsmen make PoP goddess idols?
“Goddess idol is usually made with PoP because we need more detailing, perfection, stability and cost-efficiency in the idol,” craftsman Kishore Herode said. He added that goddess idols are usually larger and installed in big pandals so it is not possible to make them from clay.
“Further, now, after monsoons, it is tough to get clay and work on eco-friendly idols,” Herode added.
How was the eco-friendly idol made?
Artists Rajeev Pal and Manak Pal decided to use other eco-friendly materials recycling them in process to make the goddess idol. “We used wood for basic stability; cloth for structuring; iron for strength; grass and soil for detailing,” the artists said.
They have prepared the idol as a replica of Maa Harsiddhi Mata Mandir, Ujjain, and it will be installed at Shirdi Sai Baba temple located in Jairampur Colony.