The idol makers of Hyderabad

Individuals make clay Ganesha idols at home to celebrate Vinayaka Chavithi in Hyderabad by making eco-friendly clay Ganesha idols and sustainable decorations to promote a green lifestyle.

Vinayaka Chavithi is that time of the year when Hyderabad sees a splash of culture, colour and clay. Even as colourful Ganesha idols made of Plaster of Paris (PoP) throng the market, the number of households opting to buy clay Ganeshas for puja have seen a steady rise. While this is a significant step to celebrate the festival without polluting Nature, we meet individuals who make clay Ganesha idols at home and promote a sustainable lifestyle.

One memory is fresh in art teacher Vishal Deshpande’s mind; in 2015, he went with his family and neighbours to immerse a Ganesha idol at a waterbody in Dindigul. The sight of the slippery ‘green water’ there made him extremely sad. He then decided to create a clay Ganesha and immerse it in a bucket of water, which was later used for plants. “During the 10-day long celebrations, we don’t even touch the idol without taking a bath, so how can we immerse Him in such dirty waters?” he asks.

Vishal, working at Kendriya Vidyalaya in Trimulgherry in Hyderabad has been creating one-foot-tall clay Ganesha idols for eight years now. While he sources clay from a shop at Begum Bazaar, his tool kit — spoons, screwdriver, toothpicks and a plastic tag — are easily available at home.

His teenage children, Varnika and Vallabh, assist him by providing him with the essentials in his workspace. He sprays water on the clay to slowly knead it, uses a spoon or a tag (from new clothing) to soften it, breaks it into small portions and creates shapes, including a round tummy. The screwdriver and a toothpick help in detailing, marking or carving the arm and shaping the eyes. Once the clay dries, he paints them with watercolours.

Vishal observes that this easy-to-use set of tools that create the idol offers a life lesson. “Creating a Ganesha, the remover of obstacles, with things at home has a symbolic representation. It tells us that the solutions to problems are right in front of us, and we just need to have a different perspective to tackle them.”

Many households in Hyderabad turn into a creative hub before the festival season. For example, Vinayak and Vivek Kayal’s homes in Nallakunta in Hyderabad come alive with fresh energy during Vinayaka Chavithi. Their family, including children, follow instructions from their 72-year-old artist-grandfather Sadashiv Kayal to create a clay idol and brainstorm to plan a theme-based décor. Attending clay-making workshops to get ideas to make the murti without any support from metal attachments or making a skeleton with grass were part of their efforts to sculpt a biodegradable idol.

Ganesha, painted with acrylic colours, in different poses as Chatrapati Shivaji sitting majestically in a fort made of cardboard boxes or as a farmer sowing barley in a farm created out of tubs is a huge attraction in the Nallakunta neighbourhood. “Everyone in the family, including my three-year-old son and my brother’s eight-year-old daughter, help in the arrangements,” says Vivek, working with Bayer Pharmaceuticals. In 2023, the sustainable décor had rhymes as a theme, with four stories including the hare and tortoise, a thirsty crow with a pitcher. “These stories recreated through animal toys, pebbles and paper boats were handmade and required a lot of effort,” he recollects.