GANESH CHATURTHI AT SOULFLOWER – ONE OF ITS KIND!
Ganesha Chaturthi (also known as Vināyaka Chaturthi, Gaṇēśa Chaturthī or Vināyaka Chaviti) is a very auspicious occasion, celebrated to honour elephant-headed God Ganesha's birthday. He is the younger son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.
Ganesha is known by 108 different names and is the Lord of arts and sciences and also the God of Wisdom. He is honoured at the start of every ritual and ceremony as he is also considered the God of Auspicious Beginnings. He is widely and dearly referred to as Ganapati Bappa or Vinayaka.
Though Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Pune and Karnataka, Mumbai is most famous for its massive processions. Even the households in Mumbai celebrate the festival by installing an idol of Lord Ganesha and worshipping it for over ten days. The houses are cleaned and the idol is brought in with the family members chanting 'Shloka' or religious verses.
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FESTIVAL
With the passion of celebrating this festival, we generally forget the hazardous impact of the immersion of idols on environment. The idol of Ganesh is generally made up of clay, Plaster of Paris (POP), plastic and cement. Toxic paints are also used in decorating the idol, which after immersion, do not completely dissolve in water which then leads to irreversible environmental pollution.
It reduces the oxygen and acid level of water, thereby killing the fishes and other aquatic animals. Careless dumping of Ganesh idols in water bodies drops the natural flow of water which results in breeding of mosquitoes and other harmful pests. This polluted water causes several diseases including skin diseases.
WHAT IS SOULFLOWER AND HOW IT ALL STARTED?
Soulflower was born out of a passion for creating premium, proven, and effective personal care, made from organic ingredients to elevate your natural beauty. As experts, we emerge with a gorgeous line of aromas, crafted from entirely natural and powerful components. Every day, we make small and deliberate choices to build and develop the quality of our products, stores, and partnerships.
We have set a new standard that has a simple foundational approach to natural skin & hair care.
Age-old Indian traditions inspire our revolution in Clean Beauty, where we blend scientific research to unleash the power of high performance, chemical-free skin and hair care.
We are the people who are passionate and believe in the magic of nature! So, Soulflower decided to take this initiative to change this gruesome act towards nature and go vegan this Ganesh Chaturthi, by installing a 100% eco-friendly Ganpati idol. This was the first time that we are celebrating this festival in our office and we wanted it to be like no other.
Festivals are a celebration of life and it is indeed imperative to protect the future by taking care of the nature while we celebrate. Soulflower promises to celebrate its foremost Ganesh Festival this year, in a manner which is beneficial to the surroundings, and thus securing a brighter prospect.
THE HEROES BEHIND THE CREATION
This year, on September 13, Soulflower left no stone unturned as we welcomed our very first eco-friendly Ganesh idol. Our workers, out of utter enthusiasm and passion, pledged to use only in-house materials to frame the idol. There was not even a single raw material that was out-sourced. Smallest of the twigs, pebbles, wood or leaves were found and arranged by the workers.
Though the idol was ready before the day dawned, it took relentless efforts by our team who continuously worked for several days to design this masterpiece.
It takes a lot of dedication and diligence to come up with this wonder and the workers showcased such talent every day. The process had not been easy at all. It started with collecting and storing various raw materials, which was earlier considered to be ‘wastage’ and ended with this wonder! This is a result of sheer hard work. What played the most crucial role was the excellent teamwork and time management. The team poured their sweat and blood to make this art possible.
NEW DAY, NEW AROMA - THE IDEA OF UNIQUE OFFERING
Finally, our beloved Ganesha idol was elegantly placed in our office and was daily worshipped by Soulflower family. We would perform the traditional 'aarti' and narrate Vedic hymns twice a day and distributed sweets as 'Prasad'. During 'aarti', all voices, irrespective of their age, synced in harmony.
We followed a unique way of offering a basketful of colourful potpourri and its aroma to Ganeshji every day for next ten days. Our ‘Go Green’ Ganesh idol was aromatized every single day and the Soulflower family would ponder over the fragrance throughout the day!
The feelings of pride, happiness, enthusiasm, and devotion were flooding through each one of us each day and the office radiated positive vibes in the surroundings.
Before we could realize, this ten-day festival came to an end and the day of immersion of the idol arose. Though the saddest part of the occasion, it is also celebrated with full enthusiasm, yet we could notice an emotion of detachment in the eyes of each one of us on the day of ‘Ganesh Visarjan’. Our beloved Ganeshji was finally immersed in the nearby lake.
All our aromas are chemical free, undiluted and organic. Staying true to its name, the “eco-friendly” aromatic Ganpati went deep down without causing any harm to the water, Earth or air.
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Building foundation for the Masterpiece!
Our natural potpourri being used in unique way to come up with this Wonder!
Team work and countless efforts being displayed by Soulflower Team to design the idol
Soulflower Family performing the traditional 'Aarti'
Our beloved Ganpati idol during Aarti
New Day - New Aroma
Eco-friendly Ganpati grcefully seated at Soulflower Office at Mumbai, India.
