The World's biggest idol of Lord Ganesha at Kolhapur, Maharashtra – A feast for the eyes!
All Hindus worship idols of Lord Vinayaka during the 10 day festival of Vinayaka Chaviti. The tallest Vinayaka statue in the world is situated at Kolhapur, Mumbai. The name of this statue is 'Chinmaya Ganadhish Idol'. The actual height of the statue is 66 feet and it is seated on throne of 24 feet high. Weight of this statue is 800 metric tons. The statue is built with concrete. 50 crafts men worked for 18 months to complete this idol. This was built by Chinmaya Mission, marking the completion of 50 years of their organization in 2001.
One more famous place in Kolhapur is the Binkhambi Ganesh Mandir. This temple was built without pillars in 1882. A small stone Ganesh idol was found while disilting a well and the temple was built around the idol. The architecture of this temple is amazing. Every year Archaeology students from various states come here to research on this temple.
The system of keeping Ganesh idols in street and worshipping them was started by Bal Gangadhar Tilak. In 1893, he worshipped the pictures of Lord Vinayaka in the streets. This practice is continuing till today.
A Ganesh temple and the idol in the temple at Lal Bagh, Mumbai were insured for Rs.2 crore 65 lakhs and Rs.1 crore respectively. Nearly one crore devotees visit this temple annually.
Ganesh idols made of mud should be used for worshipping. But most of the idols are made with plaster of Paris. Plaster of Paris is a made from Calcium Hemi Hydrate produced from Gypsum. When the plaster of Paris idols are immersed in water, it does not dissolve in water easily. Not only that, while melting in water it releases poisonous substances. The chemicals in the artificial colours like Mercury and Cadmium dissolve in water and kill the fishes and other creatures. This damages the ecological balance.
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