A lump of grey clay sits on a table. Around it, little hands are busy. Someone is carefully shaping the trunk. Someone else is working on the ears. A grandparent is helping a child smoothen the idol, while a parent reaches for a clay tool to add the finishing touches.
Slowly, quietly, something begins to take shape.
Ganesha is coming alive—not from a mould, but from the hands, imagination and love of the people creating him.This was the spirit of the Green Ganesha celebration organised by Organo Et School (OES) on 13th September 2026 at Organo Antharam, just a day before Ganesh Chaturthi.
Around 30 families came together to celebrate the festival in a way that brought together tradition, creativity, craftsmanship and a deeper connection with nature.
From Grey Clay to Ganesha
The workshop was conducted under the guidance of sculptor artist Prof. Narasinga Rao, along with sculptor student Manasha.
Each participant was handed a portion of grey clay and introduced to the basic techniques of idol-making. Step by step, the seemingly ordinary lump of clay began to transform.First came the basic form. Then the body, the face, the ears and the trunk. Gradually, finer details were added. Participants used their hands to shape and smoothen the clay, while some reached for sharp clay tools to carefully fine-tune the smaller details.
Every Ganesha was different. Some were simple. Some had intricate details. Some carried the unmistakable character of a child's imagination. And some reflected the careful hands of an adult who had perhaps never sculpted before.But every idol had one thing in common—it was made by hand.
The Green Ganesha workshop offered families an opportunity to explore how a beloved festival can be celebrated with greater awareness of the materials we choose and the traditions we carry forward.
Before the workshop, OES also prepared a document exploring ideas for celebrating Green Ganesha, bringing together simple and practical ways for families to make their celebrations more environmentally conscious.
Explore the OES Green Ganesha Celebration Ideas document → 🌿 Celebrate an Eco-Friendly Ganesh Chaturthi 🌿
The idea was not to take away from the joy of the festival, but to add another layer of meaning to it. Because when we make something ourselves, we begin to understand its value differently.
From Celebration to Learning: The 21 Patri
The Green Ganesha celebration also created an opportunity to look beyond the idol and explore another important part of Ganesh Chaturthi traditions—the 21 Patri, the collection of leaves offered during Ganesh Puja.
The different leaves used in the offering were showcased and documented, with a focus on helping participants understand their local names and their significance.
For many families, this transformed a familiar ritual into an opportunity to learn about plants and traditional knowledge that often exists quietly around us.
Explore the OES 21 Patri document: Local Names & Importance →The 21 Patra of Ganesh Chaturthi Names, Identification & Medicinal Value Guide A quick-reference sheet for the Ekavimshati Patra Puja — the 21 sacred leaves offered to Lord Ganesha. 1. Machi Patra (2).pdf
It was a simple but meaningful reminder that festivals can connect us not only to our culture, but also to the natural world around us.
More Than an Idol
By the end of the session, the tables were filled with handcrafted Ganeshas. But what had been created at Organo Antharam was more than a collection of clay idols. There were new skills learnt. There were conversations between generations. There was curiosity about clay, plants and traditional practices. There were children discovering the satisfaction of making something with their own hands. And there were families experiencing eco-living not as a lesson to be taught, but as something to be lived.
The celebration reflected the spirit of OES—creating opportunities where learning happens naturally through experience and participation. OES's approach centres on building eco-living mindsets through experiential and intergenerational learning. At Organo Antharam, this Ganesh Chaturthi began with a handful of grey clay—and ended with 30 families carrying home something far more valuable: a memory, a tradition, and a small reminder that celebrating with nature can be just as joyful as celebrating it.
Organo Et School empowers people to embrace eco-living mindsets, behaviors, and habits. We recognize that for any positive impact to be sustainable, it must be long-term and inter-generational.
UNESCO recognized Organo Et School as a green citizen initiative and Uplink, the open innovation platform of the World Economic Forum (WEF) recognized OES as Global Innovative Solution.
Organo Et School is an experiential learning initiative set up by Organo in 2017 and has been facilitating field visits and workshops for Schools and Interest Groups. Organo Et School has impacted over 12,500+ students, 5000+ adults,1,600+ families, 40+ schools, 35+ communities, 10+ corporates over the past 8 years.
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