Bhopal: Getting inspired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for ‘Vocal for Local,’ a couple from Madhya Pradesh’s capital Bhopal has come up with a unique innovation to celebrate Deepawali while caring for the environment and promoting traditional values.
They have been making idols and festive items from cow dung and have specially designed a complete festive kit for Deepawali, named ‘Satvik Deepawali Kit’. It includes eco-friendly products such as Lakshmi’s footprints, “Shubh-Labh” wall hangings, and “Swastik” symbols, all made from cow dung.
Speaking to ANI, Hukum Patidar recalled his journey, saying, “We started making murtis of Bhagwan Ganesha in 2016, initially just for our home. Some friends suggested that we could turn it into an occupation. Around the same time, I had lost my job, so I decided to pursue this work and it gave me both a means of livelihood as well as a way to serve the Gaumata.”
Coming from a farming family and having worked in the field of cow protection for a long time, he was disturbed to see stray cows roaming on the streets of cities and feeding on garbage.
“It pained me to see cows wandering and eating waste. When I looked deeper into the issue, I found that people keep cows only for milk, and once they stop giving milk, they are abandoned. Then I thought, what can we get from cows that help us all year round? That’s when I thought of cow dung. Today, people are engaged in the work of cow dung crafts across the country and now it is even being supplied abroad,” he said.
Talking about his work expansion, Patidar said that his cow dung-based idols are being sent not only in Madhya Pradesh but also several other states, including Delhi, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Chhattisgarh.
“Earlier, we used to make only idols of Bhagwan Ganesha and Lakshmi mata. But this year, inspired by the Prime Minister’s call for ‘Vocal for Local,’ we decided to create a complete festive kit for Deepawali. The kit, named ‘Satvik Deepawali Kit’, includes eco-friendly products such as Lakshmi’s footprints, “Shubh-Labh” wall hangings, and “Swastik” symbols, all made from cow dung. None of these products harms nature. We have even embedded Tulsi (holy basil) seeds in the idols so that once immersed in soil and watered, they sprout into plants,” he added.
The idols are painted using natural, eco-friendly colours to ensure that immersion does not pollute water bodies. Besides religious idols, they also create mementoes and souvenirs from cow dung, priced between Rs 100 and Rs 1,200, he said.
Speaking about the financial turnaround, he shared, “When I lost my job, I had nothing. But today, we have our own house, our children are studying well, and we are able to employ four to five other people.”
He appealed to the public to embrace such traditional and sustainable practices, highlighting that these are ancient traditions and everyone should adopt them and take pride in them.
His wife, Sumitra Patidar, who works alongside him, also urged people to prefer eco-friendly idols made from cow dung, emphasising that it’s not necessary for people to buy only from them but from anywhere.
“We have been making idols from cow dung since 2016. We create many idols such as Ganesha-Lakshmi, Radha-Krishna, Bhagwan Ram, and Ram Darbar. Along with our four to five co-workers, we prepare these idols. I appeal to everyone to use cow dung idols, wherever they are available, so that our environment can be protected. It’s not about buying our product, purchase from anywhere, but do choose eco-friendly idols,” she added. (With inputs from ANI)
