Colours from 5 states to over 150 artists: More than Rs 1 crore to be spent on Hyderabad's Ganesh idol

Hyderabad's tallest Khairthabad Ganesh idol will be installed at a whopping cost of Rs one crore this year. Some features that make the idol stand out are that it will be this year's tallest idol in the country while also being eco-friendly as it is being moulded out of clay.  

With almost Rs 1 crore spent on its preparation, the city's Khairatabad Ganesh is slated to become the tallest eco-friendly idol in the nation. Instead of using a POP (Plaster of Paris) idol, the group in charge of installing the idol has chosen to install a clay Ganesh (Eco-friendly) idol. The Khairatabad Ganesh idol in Hyderabad is renowned for its height and is the labour of up to 150 craftsmen. In addition, paint colours have begun to arrive from five other states, and artists from Chennai have come to the city to work with clay. The states of Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Kolkata, Maharastra, and Andhra Pradesh are where the colours for the Ganesh idol have come from, according to the organisers.

When speaking to the media, a devotee named Naresh stated, "Every year, POP Ganesh idols are created, but this year, clay Ganesh idols are being created, and it's fantastic that we're supporting environmentally friendly Ganesh idols. Decades have passed since the Ganesh deity was erected at Khairatabad. From Chennai, artists have travelled to undertake clay work. There are between 50 and 100 workers working on this idol from various states."

Another follower stated, "Every year, we come to observe how the Khairatabad Ganesh idol is made. Many people will travel to Hyderabad to view the largest Ganesh idol there."

Meanwhile, Raj Kumar, the coordinator of the Khairatabad Ganesh Utsav committee, stated that Shakeriah Ji began erecting Ganesh idols in Khairthabad in 1954. He further said that following then, every year the idol's height was extended by one foot by the committee.

However, following 60 years, in 2015, the organisers made the decision to annually reduce the height of the idol going forward. However, in response to popular demand from devotees who argued that the height of the idol was what made the Khairatabad Ganesh distinctive, the idea of height reduction was abandoned. The Ganesh idol’s darshan for devotees will commence on August 31. The state's governor, Tamilasai Soundararajan, and chief minister, K Chandrashekar Rao, are invited to the inauguration.