- A project in West Bengal’s Tarapith temple recycles used flowers into vermicompost, reducing pollution and providing compost for local farmers.
- In India, half a million devout individuals, engage in religious rituals using flowers. Despite the demand for flower, approximately 40% of the remains unsold and is discarded.
- However, insufficient infrastructure, funding constraints, and a lack of expertise hinder the scalability of such initiatives.
In the pilgrimage town of Tarapith in West Bengal, an initiative is transforming pollution into prosperity.
Known for its 13th-century Ma Tara temple, Tarapith attracts around 12,000 devotees daily. The offerings of flowers, that are later discarded into the nearby Dwarka river, have long contributed to pollution and environmental degradation. However, this trend is changing thanks to a collaborative effort between the Mallarpur Naisuva Trust and the temple committee, who have launched a project to recycle these flowers into valuable compost and other products. “We noticed pollution in Tarapith. Everyone used to dump used flowers, leaves etc. in the nearby river. One of the members and well-wishers, Bidhan Roy suggested we take up a solid waste management project. It would not only clean the temple area but also help the farmers with the vermicompost,” said Sadhan Sinha, Secretary of the Mallarpur Naisuva Trust.
The recycling process begins at the temple, where used flowers are collected in vats and transported to a production unit in Gowala village. There, they are carefully segregated from other materials mixed in them, before being soaked in a mixture of flour and jaggery. Over 35 days, the flowers decompose, after which cow dung and earthworms are added to facilitate further decomposition. This results in vermicompost, a nutrient-rich organic fertilizer. The project not only helps to clean the environment but also supports the livelihoods of local farmers by providing them with high-quality compost.
Despite the success of this initiative, challenges remain in scaling up similar efforts across India. Insufficient infrastructure, funding constraints, and a lack of expertise hinder wider adoption. To address these issues, training programs for NGOs and self-help groups have been initiated, aiming to replicate the model elsewhere. We have tried to utilise the waste flowers and initially we have tried it on garments particularly for children and older people. We got some success but ultimately we shifted to making gulal (colour). In gulal-making, the chemicals used are not good for human health. So we tried to replace the chemical-based gulal with the herbal ones and we got some success and people have accepted it,” said Siddartha Dutta, a retired professor of chemical engineering at Jadavpur University. This innovative approach highlights a growing awareness of the need for sustainable practices in religious rituals, offering a hopeful path towards a cleaner and more sustainable future.
Banner Image: Devotees in Tarapith temple. Image by Pratik Chakraborty
Credits
