Mangaluru: Ramakrishna Mission Swacch Mangaluru Abhiyan, in association with MRPL and the support of Swacch Mangaluru Prathishtana, launched ‘Visarjane’, a campaign for the collection and safe disposal of religious waste, at Ramakrishna Math here on Monday. The campaign will be held till March 26.Swami Jitakamananda, president, Ramakrishna Math, Mangaluru, said the initiative aims to provide a dignified and respectful way to dispose of old religious items. Temporary collection boxes will be placed at Mangaladevi Temple, Kadri Manjunatha Temple, Bharath Mall, Forum Fiza Mall, City Centre Mall, and Govinda Dasa College campus in Surathkal. People can deposit old framed pictures of deities, broken idols, calendars with religious images, and other puja materials at these centres.He said that during a cleanliness drive in the first week of March, near the Kadri Manjunatha temple premises, volunteers noticed old pictures of deities, broken idols, and other religious items were discarded in public places. The volunteers collected these items, cleaned them, and ensured they were disposed of properly. Following this, it was decided to launch the campaign.All items collected from the six centres will be transported to Kadri temple premises and stored safely for further processing. Before final disposal, temple priests will conduct ‘Udvasana Puja’. After this, volunteers will segregate the materials. Paper-based images of deities will be respectfully immersed in water and later placed in a designated pit in the temple garden, where a Tulsi plant will be planted.Items made of wood, glass, and metal will be sorted separately. Recyclable materials will be sent to recycling units, while non-recyclable materials will be disposed of safely through co-processing in cement factories, ensuring no harm is caused to the environment, he explained.Swami Jitakamananda said the ‘Visarjane’ campaign also intends to create awareness about managing religious waste in a respectful and environmentally responsible manner. The seer appealed to the public not to use images of gods and goddesses on invitations. He pointed out that Ramakrishna Math, Belur, already instructed all its maths not to print invitations with the images of gods or goddesses, as these are often discarded after the events.Keshav Patali from MRPL’s CSR wing said that people are often seen throwing religious scrap, including framed images of gods and goddesses into rivers and other water bodies. He said MRPL would support such initiatives of the mutt.Replying to a query on whether the campaign would continue, the campaign coordinator Ranjan Bellarpady said, “We are receiving queries from other taluks about similar campaigns. We are also planning to set up a permanent collection counter in the city.”Swami Nityasthananda, president, Ramakrishna Math, Basavanagudi, was also present.
