Yuva Panaji, an NGO are known across Goa for their active contribution in the social sector and have won several awards in the last few years for the same. However, they are famous for their jaw dropping Ganesh idols. In fact, to many they have become synonymous with the festive spirit and their location in the heritage locality of Fonte Phoenix (Mala Zar), Fontainhas is a popular attraction during the Ganesh period.
In 2015, they made a Ganesh idol sitting on a swing. It was made of coir and saw dust operated by a mobile app. In 2016, they made another idol out of 30,000 match sticks, that was standing on a lotus, which rotated on shadow of the viewer.
This year's Ganesh is 15 feet tall and made up of paper quilling, which gets up from its seat and blesses the viewer who prays in front of it.
" Paper quillings are used more often to make items like cards, bands, Rakhis, ear rings etc. We decided to make use of these quills to give colour to the idol. Even the clothes of the Ganesh idol have quills on it. As you know we try to bring about art and technology together. We have made use of these quills as the material and infra-red is used to make the motion possible," said Raghuvir Mahale.
The recipient of Goa State Youth Award, Raghuvir along with his team came up with his idea, as they felt this was unique and other mandals had already used the remaining materials possible for their Dekhavas. While paper quills are easily available and lighter in weight, they are difficult to make and mould.
Work on the project began on June 29 to be ready by August 25 when it was displayed.
"Since ready-made paper quills are costly, we used shredder machines and bought tinted papers which are quilling friendly. Quilling by hand takes a lot of time, so after doing some research, we decided to order five quilling machines online and started making almost 800-1000 quills per day," said Akhil Prabhu Verlekar. The shredder machines ensured that they got 3mm width papers.
For three hours every night, they worked on creating the idol, beginning with the body and simultaneously shaping the quills as per the requirements using stencils.
" We have made use of tinted papers of different colors and different styles to make the entire Ganesh idol. Secondly, we have even made rats out of quillings. For those visiting the Dekhava, once they tell us the wish in mushak (Rats ears) , the Ganesh idol stands up to give you Ashirward (blessings)," said Aishwarya Sinari.
Asked about the difficulties in completing this project, they pointed out that during the earlier projects, they had to work around the various aspects of their past idols, be it the movement mechanism or sourcing the materials. This time they did not have a picture to refer to for making this idol, that could have made the journey from conceptualization to execution easier.
" We selected beige colour for the body and face and black colour for the hair and eyebrows," Amey Shanbhag when asked about how they decided the colour options.
After three weeks of working on the quillings, they started work on making it stick to the idol's body.
Anirudh Madkaikar added that they then divided the team, where some members worked on the rats (that is part of the installation), while the others finished the remaining tasks.
"Once the structures were completed, the main task was regarding the ornaments, as it had to stand out from the other shapes. Our team started working on designing different shape of quills for the ornaments", added Granthali Bhingi.
" Later we had to focus on the clothes for Ganesh idol. This was a challenging job as it had to sit and stand frequently and so we used cloth to make the dhoti for Ganesh idol," said Maitheli Pednekar.
" The ornaments were made of foam paper whereas paper flower and shapes were used on the cloth dhoti, added Pranav Prabhu Parrikar.
"Once the idol was ready , the task was to put it up on the machine and start it. So we used a machine which could bear the weight of the idol and make it stand up and sit down. Before that we set-up the platform to raise it above the level of water in Mala Zar,"added Ravi Kamat,
The idol that was displayed on Friday, received tremendous response.
The response has been tremendous. "People are really appreciating our work as we have been consistent enough to give the people something innovative which connects art and technology," said Ravish Shetye.
"From mobile app controlled Ganesh in 2015, to 30,000 match sticks - shadow controlled Ganesh in 2016 to infrared make a wish Ganesh in 2017, we constantly look at innovation and how we can raise our standard. This helps in drawing the attention of people to Mala," said Raghuvir.
When asked if this year's idol was aimed at breaking any records, Raghuvir smiled and added that their focus this time was only to win the heart's of the public.
The remaining team members are Achut Mahale, Ankita Mahale, Diksha Shetye, Manjit Pednekar,, Preetesh Kerkar, Radiya Mahale, Sainath Uscoikar, Sarvesh Shetye, Shashank Sukhtankar, Sherwin Mendes, Siddhesh Naik among others.
