Eco-friendly Ganesha idols to dot city

Visakhapatnam: Myriad avatars of the Elephant-headed God dot various pandals and market space as the city comes alive with Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations. Those who wanted to avoid spending hours in crowded markets indulged in shopping ahead of festivities to bring home a Ganesh idol, 'patri', fruits and groceries, among other stuff.

While this is the prime time for idol-makers to strike a deal, many denizens are opting eco-friendly idols this season. Revuru Jyotsna, a mother of a seven-year-old son, has bought a seed-embedded Ganesh idol this year. "We want to set an example for our son by sticking to green initiatives.

Bringing home, a seed-embedded Ganesh idol is one such step towards it. More than festivities, my son now looks forward to how the idol sprouts into a vegetable plant after the immersion rituals in our backyard," she shares. Social media platforms are offering a plenty of options to go for a seed Ganesh idol that comes with a pot full of soil plus home delivery facility.

Irresistible 'modaks'

Apparently, this is the time where women get busy to get the hand-pounded rice flour readied to make a variety of filling that goes into various forms of 'modaks'. For those hard-pressed for time, readymade flour comes in handy.

However, with millet-based ventures such as Golokhadham Garden Greens (GGG) bringing out some of the elephant-headed God's favourite snacks, many opt for it to save time. "This year, orders for millet-based stuff like modaks and kudumu wrapped in jackfruit leaf and jilledukayalu accompanied with dips started trickling in ahead of festivities for both single portion and family combo," says N B Devi, proprietor of GGG.

Little ones at home get more amused as they are keen to join their moms to ready Lord Ganesh's feast. "Though my daughter is too young to handle the kitchen chores, I ensure to give her a portion of rice flour to fill it with a mix of jaggery and grated coconut and shape it up into a modak. She enjoys the process, observing me doing the same," says G Bindu, a mother of 10-year-old girl.