Breathing Life Into Clay

The now much-touted environment-friendly mantra Reduce – Reuse – Recycle was simply a way of life in ancient India. It was taken for granted that one used only as much as one needed, one conserved natural resources and made responsible use of whatever was handy so that man’s footprint, carbon or otherwise, was as limited on the universe as possible. Often, to ensure that these eco-friendly practices were carried out without fail, and on a large scale, a religious colour was given to them. Thus, sustainable habits became religious traditions. As the puja season approaches, Susan Philip looks at a very common tradition, the origins of which have perhaps been lost in antiquity.

As the monsoon sweeps over most of India from June to August, it brings with it torrential showers, swollen rivers and overflowing lakes. The gushing waters sweep away sand, gravel and silt, leaving the banks of the water bodies eroded. In a rain-fed economy such as ours, it is important to make sure that all the munificence from the skies doesn’t get emptied into the sea, and that rivers, wells and lakes have the capacity to store as much of the water as possible. For this, their beds have first to be dredged and cleaned, and then the clay has to be placed back, so that they hold water, instead of letting the precious resource seep away. It is a painstaking, back-breaking process unless it is undertaken collectively. But it is essential that it is done, to conserve water for use during the torrid summer months.

In all probability, our ancestors must have reasoned that giving it a religious implication would ensure that everyone contributed his or her bit towards this mega project. The fact that this season is packed with Hindu religious festivities is likely to have triggered the idea of getting clay from the beds of water bodies (thus automatically dredging them), and using it to make idols. It soon became a widespread practice.