Idol-makers to take 50% advance for ‘banned’ PoP Ganeshas in Vadodara

Following the instructions of the department,city police in March issued notices to pandal organisers asking them to install only clay idols.

However idol makers and pandal organisers had opposed the ban saying that PoP was the best material to make the large Ganesha idols and claimed that the festival would “lose it charm” without the idols. They had also expressed a concern that clay idols may break during the festival and such an incident would be considered an ill omen by the devotees.

There are around 150 registered idol makers in the city who make these Ganesha idols. The craftsmen have already started making the PoP idols for the annual Ganesha festival scheduled for September. A 10-feet tall idol can cost anything between Rs 10,00 to Rs 25,000.

“We don’t know what may happen at the last moment. If the PoP idols go unsold due to some reason,idol makers will suffer huge losses. To prevent that we have decided to demand half the price of an idol as advance from pandal organisers this year,” said Ashok Ajmeri,president of Vadodara Ganesh Murtikar Association.

Ajmeri added that the decision was taken at a meeting of the association last week. The association has also asked the organisers to consult their local MLA or MP before finalising their order for the idols.

“We have not placed our order as yet. I am not aware of the advance. However we shall readily pay whatever they demand for dada (Ganesha),” said the president of a pandal organisation.

The annual Ganesh festival will be celebrated in September this year with the immersion of the idol scheduled on the 19th of that month.