For years, Sunil Mayekar has been troubled by what Ganeshotsav leaves behind in the ponds and lakes near his home in Vile Parle.
He saw chalky sludge, flaking paint and idols that refused to dissolve for months on end.
It is why, in 2008, his family’s mandal decided to stop buying idols altogether. They started building their own giant Ganesha every year instead, out of the very things most people throw away.
The year tissue paper replaced plaster of Paris
The Bal Gopal Mitra Mandal is run by residents of Siddhivinayak Society in Vile Parle East. It has existed since 1989.
Its approach to Ganeshotsav changed when sculptor Digambar Mayekar and his sons, Sunil and Rajesh, began experimenting with alternatives to plaster of Paris around 2008.
Watching lakes turn murky after every immersion, the family decided their celebration should leave nothing behind. All three were trained in idol-making.
They settled on tissue paper stretched over a bamboo frame, a method similar to the pulped-newspaper idols that households across India now shape at home on a smaller scale.
Later, they began adding used flowers collected after the festival for texture and colour.
Run by Siddhivinayak Society residents since 1989, the mandal went eco-friendly in 2008.
How 30,000 tissue papers became a 22-foot Ganpati
Building the idol takes months of unhurried, hands-on work. Bamboo sticks are lashed together with natural gum to form a towering skeleton.
Layers of soaked tissue paper are then moulded by hand over this frame and left to dry in the sun. The process cannot begin until December, since the monsoon ruins the paper.
In 2015, the family built a 22-foot idol from 30,000 tissue papers that weighed only 150 kg.
Reports at the time noted that the paper-based idol dissolved far faster than conventional plaster of Paris idols, with the bamboo skeleton removed afterwards.
Then came banana fibre, used flowers and new experiments
The following year, Digambar and his sons scaled up further. They produced 11 such idols from a combined 3.55 lakh tissue papers.
These were shipped to mandals in Goregaon, Andheri, Jogeshwari, Santacruz, Thane and Kalyan, priced between Rs 30,000 and Rs 70,000 depending on size. One was chosen that year as the neighbouring Mahimcha Raja.
Marine biologists consulted at the time noted that idols made largely of paper pulp were comparatively safe because of the cellulose in them. The metallic paints still used on some idols remained a separate concern.
Elsewhere, similar experiments have taken other forms. Some organisations now offer doorstep-delivered clay idols that are collected back for responsible immersion, while others make seed-embedded idols that grow into saplings after the festival ends.
The Mayekars, though, have stayed close to paper and, more recently, banana fibre and flowers. In 2022, their 21-foot idol was built from banana fibre gathered from wedding halls since January, mixed with tissue paper so it would not crack, and mounted on a sculpted Garuda bird.
This year’s 25-foot Mumbaicha Peshwa idol was crafted from tissue paper and paper pulp recycled from last year’s immersion.
In 2026, last year’s Ganpati became part of this year’s
This year, the Bal Gopal Mitra Mandal took the idea one step further. Its 25-foot Mumbaicha Peshwa was made using tissue paper and paper pulp recovered after the immersion of the previous year’s idol.
The mandal now immerses its paper idol in an artificial tank, using only as much water as required to break it down. Once the immersion is complete, the paper pulp is collected and stored so it can be used again for the following year’s Ganpati.
Over the past five years alone, its experiments have included banana fibre, alum, cocopeat, vegetables, tissue paper and flowers.
What began in 2008 as an attempt to find an alternative to plaster of Paris has gradually become a cycle of reuse.
For the Mayekars and their mandal, the celebration now includes thinking about what happens after visarjan, and what from one Ganpati can return in the next.
All images courtesy of Instagram/@rajesh_digamber_mayekar
