Brief Explanation

SPARSH VINAYAK- India’s first ever Ganesha Idol for the visually impaired was created using tactical expertise and material. The idol acted as the missing aperture to empathize with a blind person visualizing their beloved Lord. The idol was made using materials like wax, nylon, cotton and tactile sensory aids which helped the blind visualize and experience the avatar of God. Sparsh vinayak was one of its kind, pandal (temporary built installations) installed in one of Mumbai’s busiest malls, for the festive period of 11 days during Ganesh Chaturthi festival. The pandal’s experience sensitized the sighted devotees who no longer took their gift of eyes for granted, and it also triggered an impulse in them for donating their eyes. The usual festival finale ritual of idol immersion was ditched and instead the Sparsh Vinayak idol was donated to a blind school.

Execution

Riding on India’s largest festival, Ganesh Chaturthi (the festival of India’s favorite elephant headed God) we built the world’s first ever idol ever made for the blind. An idol of god Ganesh. An idol called Sparsh Vinayak – The touch & feel elephant god. An idol made with special tactile sensory aid (of nylon thread treated with special wax to exaggerate the sense of touch for the blind). An idol based on the insight that the blind have forever stayed devoid of experiencing their favorite God Ganesh. And the insight that the sighted have forever stayed devoid of the realization of what it is to be blind and not be able to enjoy everyday things like the visual of your favorite god.