Bhubaneswar: Ganesh Chaturthi marked the beginning of the festive season in the state on Thursday and a large number of organisers stuck to environment-friendly theme in their celebrations.

Ganesh idols in his various avatars adorned mandaps in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. The festival was also celebrated in schools, colleges and youth clubs.

In Bhubaneswar, people were seen thronging pandals at Rupali Square, Janpath, Madhusudan Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Unit-IV and Unit-VIII to offer prayers.

Social organisation Bakul Foundation celebrated Ganesh Puja in a unique manner. They worshipped Ganesh in the form of a tree. Eyes and trunk were drawn on the tree to give it the look of Ganesh.

"In the beginning there was tree. Trees made life possible and brought rain and trapped its water. Over thousands of years, evolution led to the creation of living beings. The early humans worshipped the trees and Ganesh is a god who connects both the animal and human worlds. As the god also has strong links with forest wealth, we thought of cashing in on the festival to promote forestation," said Sujit Mahapatra from Bakul Foundation.

With every year, Ganesh idols are growing fancier because of the competition among organisers in Cuttack.

Srikhetra Nagar Puja Committee at Tinigharia decided to come up with a 50ft high gigantic Ganesh. A six-feet high mouse accompanies the god. "The idol will be here for 15 days. We have spent Rs 3.5 lakh on the construction of the idol," said Srikhetra Nagar Puja Committee president Rakesh Swain.

Several schools in the twin cities have also come up with innovative idols while maintaining environment-friendly standards.

Little Harvard Pre-School here organised an eco-friendly Ganesh Puja with an aim to sensitise the students about the need to protect the environment. Schoolchildren made idols of Ganesh with eco-friendly materials including clay, soil and organic fertilisers. Besides, they used natural colours such as turmeric instead of chemical paints.