Khairatabad Ganesh clay idol from next year

Hyderabad, Sep 3: The Khairatabad Ganesh Utsav Committee has announced on Saturday that the massive idol will be made from clay and will use natural colours for the Ganesh Chaturthi in next year.

If the clay idol installed, it will be for the first time in 63 years that the Khairatabad Ganesh will not be made of plaster of Paris.

The Committee member Raj Kumar said the height of the idol for next year had not been decided. The idol stands at 57 feet this year the committee had agreed previously to reduce the height by a foot every year.

The State government is promoting eco-friendly celebrations and towards this initiative, authorities said over two lakh clay idols were distributed to households in the city this year.

On the other hand, the high court has placed several restrictions on the height of Ganesh statues in the city.

"We will be making the idol using clay and natural colours. We took this decision after Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan spoke against the use of plaster of Paris for making idols," Mr. Kumar said.

"The Khairatabad Ganesh idol is one of the biggest and most popular Ganesh pandals in the country and we want to do our bit for the environment," he said.