25-Foot-Tall Ganesh Sculpture Made of Over 5 Tons of Bananas

In Hinduism, the 10-day Ganesh Chaturthi festival celebrates the birth of the elephant-headed deity Ganesh, the god of prosperity, new beginnings, and wisdom. In the Indian city of Sambalpur in Odisha, a group called Natraj Club pay their respects to the Hindu god by creating an epic statue of him every year using different materials. In 2017, the 11 members created a 25-foot-tall Ganesh statue made with five metric tons (about 5.5 tons) of bananas.

It took 75 days to complete the colossal figure, which comprises thousands of green, unripened bananas. The team even created decorative details using other natural materials. Gopal Pansari, art director of the club reveals, “While the ornaments and tilak for Lord were made of bamboo, we created the eyes by using banana leaves.” The fruit didn’t go to waste though—after the festival ended, and the bananas turned yellow, they were handed out to the poor.

During the festival, most Ganesh figures are made from plastic or other non-biodegradable materials, but Natraj Club pride themselves in using reusable, edible materials for their annual masterpieces. In previous years, they recreated the Ganesh god with biodegradable materials such as coconuts, sweet boondi ladoos, and conch shells.

Check out the banana Ganesh sculpture below, plus some of the Natraj Club’s statues from previous years.