Maha: Ganesh idol made of currency notes worth Rs 21 lakh

A 12-ft tall Ganesh idol made of Indian currency notes worth Rs 21 lakh has become a major centre of attraction for devotees in Maharashtra's Akola city.

Divyang (disabled) artist Tillu Tawri has used currency notes in denominations of Re 1 and Rs 10, 100, 200, 500 and 2,000 for making the elephant-headed God's idol displayed at the Veer Bhagat Singh Ganesh Utsav Mandal here for the Ganesh festival.

Tawri told PTI that he made the idol in three days.

"This idol is completely eco-friendly and has been installed on a paper canvas with the help of stapler pins. All care has been taken not to damage any currency note," he said.

As notes worth Rs 21 lakh have been used in making the idol, police are guarding it round-the-clock, he said.

The 10-day long Ganesh festival is set to conclude on Thursday, on the occasion of 'Anant Chaturdashi', with the 'visarjan' (immersion) of idols.

But, since the Ganesh idol here is made of real currency notes, it would not be immersed in water, Tawri said.

"Instead, we will dismantle the structure on Thursday evening and the currency notes will be handed over to the mandal authorities. This idol does not create any pollution," he said.

A large number of devotees have been thronging the pandal to catch a glimpse of the unique art work.

Tawri said last year, he sculpted a Ganpati idol with 1,100 coconuts while in 2017, he created an idol out of different sports items like balls, cricket bats and racquets.