An artist's 5-ft Ganesha idol made from 1,100 notebooks has gone viral. Her project took days and involved carefully stacking, folding and shaping the books to create Bappa’s features. The idea drew praise for combining creativity, devotion and an educational purpose, while also sparking questions about the idol’s eventual visarjan too.
A woman's unusual Ganesh Chaturthi creation has caught the internet's attention after she made a 5-foot idol of Lord Ganesha using 1,100 notebooks. The artist shared a video showing how she created what she called 'Gyan Ganesha', turning stacks of notebooks into a detailed representation of Bappa.
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Building Gyan Ganesha
Sharing the video, artist Aditi Mittal wrote that her idea was to explore what could happen if 'the books that shape our future' could also take the form of the God of wisdom.
According to her caption, the finished idol took days of planning, calculating, stacking, balancing and correcting. She explained that the notebooks were not simply placed on top of one another. Each book had to be positioned carefully so that the structure could support the next layer.
Pages were also folded and shaped to create details including the mukut, ears, trunk and hands. The notebooks gradually formed the body of the 5-ft Ganesha. The concept quickly drew praise online, with many users calling it creative, thoughtful and different from traditional celebrations.
Internet praises the idea
Several commenters praised the artist for combining devotion with creativity and education. One user said it was better than celebrations involving food wastage, while another called it a 'real celebration' of Ganesh Chaturthi.
Others said the project showed impressive creativity and experimentation. Some users also praised the possibility of the notebooks being useful to children after the celebration.
However, the unusual idol also led to questions about visarjan. One commenter asked how the immersion would be handled if the books were to be donated.
The artist responded by explaining the religious process behind visarjan, saying that after prayers, the idol is considered a physical form once the divine presence is respectfully invited to leave.
The discussion itself became part of the viral video's appeal, with several users saying they had not previously understood the tradition in that way.
From its intricate construction to the idea of giving notebooks a second purpose, 'Gyan Ganesha' has turned into a talking point online.
