There were surprise plans for me this Sunday with me finding myself ready in the morning to go out for the Clay Ganesha making workshop. Else, I am generally busy doing the boring things that I usually do, which is to finish off the extra house chores of other days left undone due to being busy with work.
My cat Garu adoring my closed computer urging me to sleep and chill as well like him!!
Sundays after finishing the house chores, I just immerse myself into reading story books, the latest of which is Sherlock Holmes, sleep like my cats and read news to catch up on all that I did not read throughout the week.
However, this Sunday I decided to try out my hand in making clay Ganesha.
This meant I just had to get up earlier, and possibly leave out doing some house chores that Sunday.
Well, nice pose of sleeping cat Mochu, elegant and artistic!!
A workshop teaching us to make our own Ganesha is so cool!!
I am not religious, but my Dad is passionate about doing Ganesha puja(in his very own inimitable style) and he anyway needed to buy a clay Ganesha for home, so I thought why not try to make one this time by hand.
This clay making Ganesha initiative was done by an active resident near my area who is part of an environmental sustainability volunteer group in our area. This was convenient for me, for the workshop was walking distance from my house as well.
All I had to do was to pay Rs 75, and the materials and guidance for making Ganesha will be given by the volunteers supporting the cause of making eco-friendly Ganesha that don’t pollute the environment.
The first Ganesha I ever made in the clay Ganesha making workshop
It's important that everyone celebrates Ganesh Chaturthi without harming our environment
During this season nearing September, India celebrates Ganesh Chaturthi and there is an age old practice of immersing Lord Ganesha into water at the end of the festival. However, immersion of color Polyester Ganeshas’ into our Cities’ water bodies have ended up polluting our remaining lakes and beaches.
This is why we all need to get Ganeshas that’s environmentally friendly.
A simple clay Ganesha when immersed in water, will not end up polluting water. You can even embed the clay Ganesha with a seed, which when dissolved with water turns into a clay on which that seed can be planted.
Once a year when making eco-friendly Ganesha, we can also end up planting a simple crop which we can eat later.
Lord Ganesha will thus be happy we are celebrating his festival in a healthy manner benefitting not just our environment but our health as well, eating organically grown chemical free food grown by us!!
Very Basics of making your own Clay Ganesha - DIY Clay Ganesha
(DIY stands for Do It yourself)
However, I will talk about the basics of making a clay Ganesha at home, which I learnt from the workshop.
I was likely the only grown up in the workshop, that mostly had kids come to try their hands on making clay Ganesha. However, these kids came with their parents, who helped and guided them in making clay Ganesha but even then it felt a little odd being surrounded by children in the workshop.
The Clay Ganesha workshop which taught me the basics of making a clay Ganesh idol to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi with the Ganesha we made by our own hands.
Clay dough for making Ganesha should be of right consistency
We were told to bring water as it was needed to adjust the consistency of the clay dough through which various parts of Lord Ganesha will be shaped step by step.
I am yet to figure out the right consistency of the clay dough, but it should be smooth and without cracks, if cracks come the Ganesha parts shaped out of the dough will crack and fall.
So, we need to adjust the consistency of the clay dough with little water and enough clay.
Luckily, I guess the ready made clay dough I was provided with was in the right consistency, so my first Ganesha I shaped in the workshop did not need much adjustment with clay and water.
Putting too much water will make the clay dough sticky, in which case I think you have to mix more clay and knead it, like we do for making our roti dough, although I am not good at this process.
Step by step instruction on making your own clay Ganesha idol
Anyway, here is how I made my clay Ganesha -:
Creating the Platform base on which Lord Ganesha sits
- Make a round ball without cracks and press it flat to make the base.
** Lord Ganesha’s stomach**
- Now make a round ball and place it on the back portion of the base. This will be Lord Ganesha’s stomach.
(Note you can make a small impression using your little finger on the middle of the stomach, for the belly button which I did later)
Create and shape Lord Ganesha’s legs
- Make two vertical elongated shapes for Lord Ganesha’s legs.
- Attach the shapes on the sides of the base and make an impression on the front edge for Lord Ganesha’s feet.
- Draw lines on the feet to shape Lord Ganesha’s toes using a toothpick.
Shaping Lord Ganesha’s chest
- Make a potato shape and place it on top of Lord Ganesha’s stomach. This is Lord Ganesha’s chest.
You can use a paint brush which you can dip into water and then brush the edges to merge and smudge the chest and stomach parts of Lord Ganesha. Alternatively you can use your fingers of course, this is quite a delicate job.
Shaping Lord Ganesha’s arms and hands
- Make two elongated vertical shapes like done for making Lord Ganesha’s legs, only thinner. This is for his arms.
Attach the parts with Lord Ganesha’s left arm pointing upwards offering us his blessings and the other arm spread out in front.*
(You are free to make shapes to place on Ganesha’s right palm showing a hospitable Ganesha offering some nice sweets(:)
Obviously the front edge of Ganeshaji’s arms should be pressed flat for his palms. You are free to shape his fingers drawing lines using a toothpick.
Shape Ganesha’s face and trunk
- Make a round ball and a long pipe shape. This is for Lord Ganesha’s face and truck.
Attach the trunk to the face, then insert the face on top of Ganesha’s body. Shape them accordingly.
(Notice my model is full of cracks, my Ganesha’s trunk, ears and the arm offering blessings broke off several times and I had to re-do them)
Shape Lord Ganesha’s ears
Now to shape Lord Ganesha’s lovely elephant ears.
Make a small round ball, and then flatten it with one edge of the ear flat.
Then press and spread the other edges shaping them into Ganesha’s ear.
Attach the flat portion of Ganesha’s ears to his head .
(You are free to shape the ears with lines using the toothpick.)
Top up Lord Ganesha with a turban or crown
Complete your Ganesha by adding a turban to his head.
- For this make very small balls that you shape into thin line shapes that you circle round on Lord Ganesha’s head making a turban for him.
Create Lord Ganesha’s Mooshika Vahana
Ganesha’s vehicle or vahana is a mouse, Mooshika vahana. Let’s make Lord Ganesha’s vahana, that is his mouse.
- You just shape a mouse’s shape as its body, which has an eggish shape.
- Then shape the mouse's tail and attach it to the mouse’s body.
- Lastly you can shape the eyes of both Lord Ganesha and his Mooshika vahana with pepper balls.
So, your Lord clay Ganesha is complete. Just give some fine tuning touches wherever needed. I had to smudge over the arms and trunk portion of my Ganesha model to remove those wrinkles, I mean cracks and merge the parts.
Celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi joyfully in a eco friendly manner
Well, I believe praying to that idol of Lord Ganesha made by our own hands is a very special and unique experience. Surely, this is a great way to show one’s devotion to Lord Ganesha, to our environment and our cultural tradition.
So, celebrate Ganesha Chaturthi, make nice sweets(sweet and salt modak) and food, share it with loved ones, and pray with your own homemade Ganesha joyfully singing some Ganesha slokas.
Spread happiness and love more than anything else as this by itself is a kin to celebrating the spirit of Lord Ganesha who wants all of us to be happy, healthy, prosperous.
I end up by putting a link to a very popular Ganesha sloka which I used to recite as a kid, its called "Maha Ganapathim".
Thank you , Happy Ganesh Chaturthi everyone!!