Telangana: Clay’s the way ahead, say Khairatabad Ganesh organisers

HYDERABAD:  This year, the gigantic Khairatabad Ganesha idol will be 50 feet tall and would be made of clay, Sri Ganesh Utsav Committee, Khairatabad, announced here on Friday during Karra puja. The clay Ganesh idol would be set up 80 days ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi which falls on August 31.

This is the first time the committee has decided to go in for a clay idol in the wake of the Supreme Court order issued last year. The announcement has brought major relief to the State government.Every year, the committee instals an idol of a height between 50 and 60 feet made of Plaster of Paris (PoP), but this year they would be breaking from tradition and have a clay one instead.

This year’s Ganesh idol is being made of clay as per the last year’s announcement by the Utsav Committee Sudarshan in the light of the Telangana High Court banning immersion of Ganesh idols made of PoP in Hussainsagar last year. The Supreme Court last year allowed the immersion of Ganesha idols in the Hussainsagar lake “one last time” for Vinayaka Chaturthi celebrations.

A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana last year passed the order on a petition filed by the GHMC. The civic body had sou-ght a stay on the order of the Telangana High Court banning the immersion of Ganesha idols made of PoP in the lake. Utsav Committee organiser S Raj Kumar told Express that this year, the Ganesh idol, made of clay, would be ‘Panchamukhi Mahalakshmi Ganapathi’ and would be immersed in Hussainsagar lake as has been done for many decades.