Hyderabad: The famous Khairatabad Ganesh will take on the form of “Sri Viswashanti Maha Shakti Ganapathi” this year, standing tall at a staggering 69 feet. The image of the idol was revealed on Friday during the Ganesh Karra ceremony.
Ganesh Karra pooja is a traditional Hindu ritual, typically performed in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, as part of Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations.
This will be the tallest Ganesh idol so far, excluding last year’s 70th anniversary 70 feet idol.
Ganesh Utsav Committee (GAC) chairman Raj Kumar Singari said that the raw materials and clay for the idol will be sourced from Gujarat. “All the eco-friendly colours will be made in Hyderabad. Around 150 skilled artisans across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu will take part in the statue making,” Singari said.
Idol sculptor Rajendran, who has been crafting the Khairatabad Ganesh annually for over four decades, stated that the committee has decided to complete the idol by August 20. The Ganesh Chaturthi festivities will take place on August 27.
The sculpture design features a 69-foot-tall and 28-foot-wide statue, with three faces and eight arms under the five-hooded Adidesha (a gigantic snake). The GAC has also commissioned 15 foot tall eco – friendly idols of Sri Lakshmi Sametha Hayagreeva Swamy to the right and Sri Gajjalamma Devi to the left of Lord Ganapathi. Smaller sculptures of Lord Puri Jagannath Swamy and Sri Lalitha Tripura Sundari Devi will also be present.
Eco-friendly Ganesh idols have been taking the stage at Khairatabad since 2022.
In 2021, the Telangana High Court banned the immersion of plaster of paris (POP) Ganesh idols in the Hussain Sagar Lake, owing to growing environmental concerns.
The following year, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) sought a stay order from the Supreme Court to accommodate the POP idols. The apex court relented, on the condition that the Ganesh idols should be crafted out of eco-friendly, degradable materials.
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