After Diwali, Lucknow temple launches drive to dispose of idols dumped unceremoniously

After Diwali festivities, Mankameshwar temple’s mahant Devya Giri has launched a campaign to collect abandoned idols of Goddess Laxmi and God Ganesh from the streets of Lucknow. 

The campaign will continue for a week . As many as 51 vehicles are deployed to collect idols from door to door. The initiative is aimed at keeping the city clean and green. 

Mahant Devya Giri said, “Usually people are in a habit of leaving old idols and material used in rituals under Peepal trees or on the banks of river Gomti. This is not the right way to dispose of idols of deities.” 

Every year after Diwali, one can find Laxmi and Ganesha idols decaying in nullahs or on the roadsides.

“I have taken the responsibility to collect such abandoned idols by launching a week-long drive called Mankameshwar clean city. On the first day, we went to Nehru Bal Vatika in Aliganj sector C to collect abandoned idols,” she said. 

Devya Giri and her team reached Nehru Bal Vatika in Aliganj at 6 am and collected piles of abandoned idols. She moved around in the locality and distributed leaflets for proper disposal of idols and materials used in daily rituals. She also requested citizens to not discard idols by leaving them in the open . People were also told to not immerse idols in the river as this would pollute river water. 

Once the festivities are over, the idols are ruthlessly discarded.

“The ideal way is to dig a pit and dispose of the the idols. Another way is to submerge them in a tub of water and allow the clay to dissolve in water and use it for watering plants,” said Giri who had distributed idols of Laxmi -Ganesh made from Tulsi seeds. 

Simultaneously, a similar campaign was carried out in Gomti Nagar and Mankameshwar area. Devya Giri appealed to the residents to give away old idols of gods and goddesses at Mankameshwar ghat within a week so that they could be disposed of properly. 

The mahant believes that she will be able to collect about one lakh idols in Jhulelal ghat. A number of citizens have volunteered their services in keeping the city clean.