Pune lawyers craft dissolvable Ganesh idols for two decades
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In Pune, India, the Agarkar family, Surekha, Pramod, Ashish, and Adesh, devote months each year to crafting Ganesh idols from recycled paper.
Since 2004, the family, all practicing lawyers except for Pramod who is a goldsmith, has made the eco-friendly idols as a spiritual practice inspired by their guru’s environmental advocacy. They began making the idols to avoid the pollution caused by Plaster of Paris idols that don’t dissolve in water.
The Agarkars collect paper used for religious writing, transforming it into paper mache. Initially, their creations were simple compared to idols made from clay or plaster, but they have refined their technique over 20 years, now producing idols ranging from seven inches to five feet tall. The process begins after Diwali and involves soaking paper, designing molds, casting, sanding, and painting with natural pigments like turmeric and ochre.
The family produces 150 to 200 idols annually, selling them through word of mouth and with the help of the environmental organisation Eco-Exist. They do not focus on profit, wanting to preserve the message of sustainability that motivates their work. Surekha Agarkar recently completed a law degree to better understand environmental regulations and advocate for environmental causes.
