The Science behind immersing Lord Ganesha

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Ganesh Chaturthi will be celebrated on 31st August this year where we worship Lord Ganesha who is the embodiment of wisdom, prosperity and Good fortune. After praying, we immerse His idol in water and bid Him goodbye and tell Ganapati to come back next year.

Why do we immerse Lord Ganesha?

Ganesh Chaturthi teaches that what has taken form has to become formless and nothing is eternal in this world. The essence if the festival is that the idol has to dissolve and ultimately become part of the five elements thus completing the cycle.

Here is the scientific explanation:
Fresh water fill up lakes and ponds during rainy seasons. To preserve this, the old clay/soil at the bottom needs to be dug out, aired and replaced. So traditionally, people have been collecting this clay and sculpting it into idols. We worship these idols with turmeric and other natural herbs during Ganapati. During visarjan (immersion), the dried clay settles down in the riverbed and absorbs as much river water as possible. In this way maximum river water keeps humidity in the surrounding lands before reaching the sea.



Nowadays, the idols are becoming bigger and bigger and natural clay is being used lesser and lesser. People are going for substitutes like Plaster of Paris, plastic and Thermocol. Immersing those toxic materials in rivers does more harm than good.

Plaster of Paris contains calcium sulfate hemihydrate which takes several years to fully dissolve, and also deprives the water of oxygen thereby killing marine flora and fauna.

The chemical paints used to decorate the Ganesha idol contain mercury, lead and cadmium, which increase the acidity and metal content in the water.

All of this is KILLING the aquatic animals and disrupting the ecosystem!



Henceforth please only use clay and water-soluble watercolours or turmeric for decoration. Turmeric has the added benefit of promoting the growth of aquatic animals. Some trending eco-friendly Ganesh idols are Coconut Ganesha, Masala Ganesha, Chocolate Ganesha, Paper-mache Ganesha, Sugarcane Ganesha amongst others.

I made this one with flour, turmeric, sugar and milk as needed.


Let's all show some Elephant Wisdom and be good listeners with big Elephant's ears and adopt eco-friendly habits so we can celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi year after year with great fervour!

Ganapati Bappa Moriya!

Find some Interesting Eco-friendly Ganesha ideas on this link:

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