Archive · 15 Sep 2026
Pune Lawyer Family Spends Months Handcrafting Water-Dissolving Ganesh Idols
A family in Pune makes Ganesh idols from paper instead of Plaster of Paris.
The family members are lawyers, but they spend many months each year making the idols by hand.
The idols are made in a small workshop.
They dissolve in water within a few minutes.
This helps reduce the pollution caused by idols that do not dissolve.
Surekha Agarkar works with her two sons, her husband, and her mother.
They started this work in 2004.
Their guru helped them learn how to make the paper mâché idols.
The family believes this is a more environmentally friendly way to celebrate.
Surekha Agarkar and her lawyer sons, Ashish and Adesh, have made paper mâché Ganesh idols together since 2004.
The family hand-moulds the idols in a small workshop on Pune’s Prabhat Road, opposite Deccan Gymkhana.
The idols are designed to dissolve completely in water within minutes.
Surekha’s husband, goldsmith Pramod Agarkar, and her mother, Vijaya Gade, also contribute to the work.
The family began making the idols after guidance from their guru and concerns about the environmental harm caused by Plaster of Paris idols.
- Who
- Surekha Agarkar, her sons Ashish and Adesh, her husband Pramod Agarkar, and her mother Vijaya Gade.
- What
- The family hand-moulds eco-friendly paper mâché Ganesh idols that dissolve in water within minutes.
- When
- They have made the idols together since 2004 and spend months on the work each year.
- Where
- A small workshop on Prabhat Road in Pune, opposite Deccan Gymkhana.
- Why
- They want to avoid the environmental harm caused by Plaster of Paris idols and were guided by their guru, who promotes environmental causes.
- Family members
- Surekha Agarkar, Ashish Agarkar, Adesh Agarkar, Pramod Agarkar, and Vijaya Gade
- Started
- 2004
- Material
- Paper mâché
- Dissolving time
- Within minutes of being placed in water
- Workshop location
- Prabhat Road, Pune, opposite Deccan Gymkhana
- Outside help
- The family makes the idols entirely by hand without outside help
- Guidance
- Their guru, who heads the Anirudha Upasana Foundation, guided them on making paper mâché idols