BENGALURU: Over 2,100 enthusiastic Bengalureans sculpted 2,138 Clay Seed Ganeshas, creating the Guinness World Record, here on Sunday. Young and old, women and children dirtied their hands and patted clay into shape to create the record.
Ahead of the 57th edition of Bengaluru Ganesha Utsav, Shri Vidyaranya Yuvaka Sangha, BBMP and Karnataka State Pollution Control Board organised the event.
Around 150 artistes from Chitrakala Parishath, Mangaluru and Mysuru helped people sculpt the Ganesha idols as Mr Swapnil Dangarikar, adjudicating officer of Guinness World Records, kept a close watch on the process. He was helped by RNS College students.
Mr Dangarikar said, “There was a similar record based on a sculpting lesson where one person shows the process. Based on that, we set a minimum limit of 589 number of participation. This event was the first accepted application, while there were other attempts like this but without officially applying through the Guinness World Records.”
After the event, Mr Dangarikar handed over the certificate of the record to the organisers that read, “The most people sculpting with model clay was achieved by Bengaluru Utsav (India) at an event, organized by Shree Vidyaranya Yuvaka Sangha, Bengaluru, India on 25 August 2019.”
KSPCB chairman K. Sudhakar, who took part, said, “With thousands of people including children and youth participating in the event, this is the best platform for spreading awareness. It should become our moral obligation to encourage eco-friendly celebrations and protect our water bodies from deteriorating. I appeal to the people not to buy PoP Ganesha idols. When there are no buyers, there is no sale.”
Mayor Gangambike, who too was part of the record-breaking effort, said, “With the message of using clay Ganesha, Bengaluru Ganesha Utsav is leading the eco-friendly celebrations.”
Mr Nandish S. Mariyappa, Director, Shri Vidyaranya Yuvaka Sangha, said, “Over the past decade, Bengaluru Ganesha Utsav has been celebrating Ganesha Chaturti in an eco-friendly manner. This year, we wanted to take it a step forward. Through this initiative, we can save out water bodies from at least 2,000 Ganeshas.”
The clay Ganeshas are embedded with seeds that germinate into plants and trees.
