This Nature conservationist couple promotes Organic Ganeshas among the lesser privileged

Prashanth and Namitha Kiranpure hail from Amravati, Maharashtra. They both come from families who are passionate about Nature conservation and are members of a local Nature Conservation Society. So every year when it was time to bring the Elephant God home, they used to bring home idols made of mud. Then one year they decided, why not make it themselves? Using the pure mud available locally, they sculpted their Organic Ganesha.

Since then every year, they have their own indigenously made mud Ganesha for the festival. After immersion, they use the mud for plants. What’s more, though they have developed it into an art, they do not sell any mud Ganeshas. “Everything has become so commercialised these days but we don’t want to walk that path,” says Namitha. Instead they conduct free workshops on how to make Organic Ganeshas for underprivileged children in schools and orphanages. “After the idol immersion is done, we tell the kids to collect the mud from these idols and store it for use in the coming year,” adds her husband Prashanth.

Children are very interested in these kind of workshops, informs an excited Namitha. “They make the Organic Ganesha idols with a lot of passion. Last year, nearly 400 children from an orphanage school made these mud Ganeshas and put them up for sale so that they could collect funds for the children. They got very good response so they had decided to do it again this year by starting early but then the lockdown happened so it didn’t work out,” she reveals.

They don’t colour the Organic Ganeshas but even if they do, they use natural colours that come from the different types of mud itself.  The couple say that getting mud is also a problem these days as there is scarcity because everything has become so commercial. So they have been sourcing it from nearby districts like Akola and Chandrapur for their workshops as the mud used by the children in these workshops is supplied by the couple.

Prashanth and Namitha also design wall murals and all types of art under their own brand Tantra Creations. They can be contacted on Facebook.

Also Read: Don’t forget this Mother on Mother’s Day!