Environment pleads Lord Ganesha on his Official Birthday

“Oh Lord, save me and keep me thriving” pleads the environment to Lord Ganesha this season, yet again.

It is yet another Ganesh Chaturthi, the day on which it is believed that Lord Ganesha bestowed his presence on earth to all his devotees. So it is his OFFICIAL HAPPY BIRTHDAY :). On this day, it is believed that this Supreme god of wisdom brings prosperity and good fortune to his devotees on earth.

But some devotees bring upon adverse environmental effects as well. Yes. When you think of Ganesh Chaturthi, you not only think about doldrums, decorated streets and temples, exuberant devotees and tons of music but also colorfully polluted ponds, lakes and sea. For years, the Indian Government and Environmentalists have emphasized on the ill effects of dissolving Ganesha idols in such water medium but to the deaf ears of these devotees.

I wonder why people dissolve Ganesha idols and found this piece of info in Wikipedia – “Traditionally, the Ganesh idol was sculpted out of earth taken from nearby one’s home. After worshipping the divinity in this earth idol, it was returned back to the Earth by immersing it in a nearby water body. This cycle represented the cycle of creation and dissolution in Nature.” But these days rather than realizing the essence of this ritual, people create disruption of the environmental balance by such dissolution of idols (made of artificial elements like Plaster of paris, Asphalt etc).

I wish this Ganesh Chaturthi, people realize the actual purpose of the ritual and the god bestows the required knowledge to his devotees for the same.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesh_Chaturthi
http://www.hindu-blog.com/2007/09/environmental-pollution-caused-by.html