Idols discarded by the road have become a familiar sight in Bengaluru. The HSR Citizens' Forum brought the community together to address the issue with care and reverence.
Published May 24, 2025 | 5:51 PM ⚊ Updated May 24, 2025 | 5:51 PM
HSR Citizens' Forum collects discarded idols and pictures, and recycle them after performing a puja.
Synopsis: Idols and pictures of gods, once past their ‘use’, are carelessly discarded, adding to the mounting environmental concerns. Residents of HSR Layout in Bengaluru have found a solution to the issue.
It was a cloudy morning in HSR Layout—the kind that makes Bengaluru feel quiet and reflective. But something special was happening.
Residents, young and old, stepped out of their homes —not for a morning walk, but to gather at the Sri Varasiddhi Vinayaka Temple at HSR Layout, for a cause aimed at the betterment of society.
They had come together with a purpose: to collect idols and sacred pictures that were no longer in use, and give them a new life through recycling.
In recent times, it has become a familiar sight in Bengaluru—idols abandoned by the roadside. This initiative, led by the members of the HSR Citizens’ Forum, brought the community together to address the issue with care and reverence.
The residents arrived with divine pictures and idols that they wished to recycle. In addition to these contributions, the forum also collected abandoned idols found across the streets in and around HSR Layout.
The proceedings started with the “Udvasana Puja” or “Visarjana Puja” ritual, bidding farewell to the idols. Following the puja, volunteers organised themselves into groups and began the task of dismantling the idols. Each part was handled thoughtfully, with materials segregated into almost 10-12 individual materials based on type—glass, wood, metal, and other components—ensuring that they could be responsibly recycled.
Members of the HSR Citizens’ Forum at work.
After the segregation, the materials were sent to the dry-waste collection facility to be recycled.
“It is an ugly sight to see the idols on the road that eventually will end up in a landfill. So, to avoid that was where we started collecting the idols. Our volunteers would go around and start collecting it from their sectors. And we put them together, cleaned, and dismantled them,” Sreelakshmi Anand, a member of the HSR Citizens’ Forum, told South First.
“We are giving a second life to the discarded items, either through reuse or recycling,” Srilakshmi added.
Dr Shanthi Tummala, a founder-member of HSR Citizens’ Forum, talked about the significance of conducting this event at a temple.
“People have fears of where it is going, if it is handled perfectly? People have the fear of committing a papa if it is mishandled. So, we thought we would do it in a temple with a proper Udvasana Puja and Prana Pratishta,” she said.
Dr Shanthi highlighted a growing concern about the increased affordability of idols, which has led to more careless and impulsive purchases. She pointed out that many of these idols are now made with laminated materials, which pose a serious challenge to recycling efforts.
Idols and pictures that are collected for recycling.
“The laminated idols cannot be recycled, the metal ones can be used for hundreds and hundreds of years and can be recycled, so while buying, I want people to not buy mindlessly and to think before you buy, how many years can one can use it or if I gift someone, do they use it,” she opined.
The residents were active and enthusiastic participants in the event. Among them was Geeta, who shared her experience of joining for the first time.
“This has been a long-term goal of mine—to contribute to recycling efforts,” she said. “For more than 20 or 30 years, I’ve
seen idols disposed of carelessly, left everywhere. When I heard about this event, I thought, ‘Let me be a part of this good cause.’”
Another resident, Kavitha, also shared her thoughts. “When I moved to HSR, the house I shifted into had a couple of divine frames left behind. I didn’t know what to do with them. Someone had abandoned them, and the owner wasn’t willing to take them back. So when we got to know about this event, it felt like such an amazing opportunity. I think the guilt will finally go away. The puja that was performed for all the frames—it brings a sense of closure and peace.
This, I believe, is the best possible way.”
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
