In Vadodara lord Ganesha was decorated by food packets, raising awareness on the issue of food wastage.
While speaking to a news agency, the devotee, Radhika Soni said that her personal experiences ignited this idea in her mind.
“My personal experience led to me doing this. During a function at my home, there was a lot of leftover food and we found someone for donation after great difficulty. We thought back then that food is not something to be wasted. One-thirds of total food is wasted every day worldwide. The message is ‘Don’t Waste Food’,” Soni said.
Soni has used banners to make people aware of the plight of people fighting hunger and to depict two Baroda-based organisations which take the leftover food and distribute it to the poor.
The idol of Lord Ganesha is installed on a tall Shivlinga, which was made out of biscuits packets.
“The Shivlinga is 5-feet tall. It has been made using 1,008 full packets of biscuits and 850 Rudrakshas. These packets of biscuits will be distributed among poor children after the immersion of the idol,” Soni said.
Ganesh Chaturthi, a 10-day festival that starts on the fourth day of the Hindu lunisolar calendar month Bhadrapada, started on September 10 this year. People have been creating unique Ganesha idols across the country on this ten-day festival.