Ganesha Chaturthi also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi is one of the important Hindu festivals celebrated throughout India with a great devotion and enthusiasm. This day is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. Lord Ganesha is the symbol of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune.
The duration of this festival varies from one to eleven, depending on the place and tradition, in different parts of the country. On the last day of the festival the idols (which are usually made of clay) are taken out in a colourful and musical procession and immersed traditionally in water. This festival is very important for students, and they worship Lord Ganesha to illumine their minds.
However, taking a break from this traditional manner of celebrating Ganesha Chaturthi, a bakery shop owner, Harjinder Singh Kukreja, hit upon a novel idea and has crafted a 40 kg Belgian Chocolate Ganesha at his shop located at Ludhiana. This chocolate Ganesha idol has been made with the noble aim and purpose to feed the kids from the poor families in the form of delicious chocolate milk. They intend to immerse this eco-friendly Ganesha idol in milk and then feed the chocolate milkshake to the needy children. It took them a complete one week to prepare this three feet Ganesha idol.
It is certainly a good move to shift celebrating Ganesha Chaturthi festival instead of making such idol made of soil and then painting them with oil paints and ultimately immersing them in rivers, lakes or in sea, which not only pollutes the water, but also becomes very harmful to the fish and many other creatures living in water. People who worship Ganesha and finally immerse them every year in seas, rivers or lakes etc., should better take a good and generous clue and shift their moves, as it not only checks water from getting polluted, but also offer such milk chocolate to the children from poor families. People who have seen this Chocolate Ganesha have remarked, “It is very hard not to salivate while looking at the pictures.”
Even Lord Ganesha will be more pleased if people stop this centuries old tradition of immersing the painted clay idols in water and thereby cause pollution. It will also make poor people happy as their children will be fed and they will give their blessings to the people who feed them.
Citizen Reporter
R.D. Bhardwaj “Noorpuri”
