Khairatabad Ganesh 2023: An eco-friendly idol stands tall at 63 feet

As one may wonder how clay would hold up in the form of a jumbo idol of this scale, chief architect Chinnaswamy Rajendran credits the teamwork of artists from various parts of the country who brought in their expertise in different areas.

For this year’s Ganesh Chaturthi, Hyderabad’s famed Khairatabad Ganesh idol is not just a clay idol catering to the environmental necessities but the tallest ever attempted by the organisers in the last 69 years. The idol is being made for the last couple of weeks and is being ready for Ganesh Puja today.

Standing tall at a height of 63 feet and weighing about 50 tonnes, the Khairatabad Ganesh Utsav Committee has gone ahead with an idol that is 13 feet taller than last year amid persistent stress from the government to install an eco-friendly idol that, as per tradition, is to be immersed in the iconic Hussainsagar lake on the 11th day of festival. Since 1954, when a one-foot-tall idol was first installed here, the organisers have followed a tradition of raising the idol’s height by one foot yearly.

While a 61-foot tall idol made of plaster of Paris (PoP) was installed during the festival in 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic and stringent environmental regulations paved the way for a much smaller 27-foot clay idol in 2020. In 2021, a 40-foot tall PoP idol was installed, after which it was decided to install only clay idols yearly.

In 2022, the organisers attempted a taller clay idol and installed one 50 feet tall. This year, the idol’s height has grown further to 63 feet. The main Ganesh puja is on September 18, and immersion of the idol is on September 28, reportedly.