Thaindian News

Lucknow, Sep 6 (IANS) Prayers before the elephant-headed Lord Ganesha here are answered with blessings to make the earth greener!

Shubh Sanskar Samiti, a Lucknow-based organisation holding religious programmes, is offering saplings as “prasad” (consecrated offering) to the devotees converging at a pandal here for the ongoing Ganesha festival.

“The sole objective behind the exercise is to sensitise the people about the significance of plantation - the easiest mode to fight global warming and other environmental hazards,” Raj Kishore Gaud, a member of the Samiti, told IANS Tuesday.

For over last two decades, the Samiti has been organising functions for Ganesh festival, but it is for the first time the organisation is distributing saplings among the devotees visiting its pandal in the Chowk area of old Lucknow.

“At our pandal that is in place since Sep 1 - the first day of Ganesh festival - we are, on an average, distributing around 100 saplings daily. One sapling for a family - this is our criteria for the distribution,” he added.

Starting with Ganesha Chaturthi, commemorating the birth of Lord Ganesha, the festival lasts for 10 days. Devotees bring home a Ganesha idol and offer prayers and sweets daily. One can see huge Ganesh statues at public pandals in every area, which attract huge crowds every evening.