Not clay, but pani puri: Pune's 13-foot Ganpati is made from 21,000 shells

Puri Ganpati

A 13-foot Ganpati idol in Pune has turned an everyday street-food favourite into festive art. Built using more than 21,000 pani puri shells, the towering creation outside Ganesh Bhel on Fergusson College Road (FC Road) has become a magnet for devotees, visitors and social media attention.

Shell marathon

Getting 21,000 pani puri shells to form a giant Ganpati was no quick festive experiment. Artist Prashant Salunkhe and a team of around 8 to 10 artisans spent nearly 15 days assembling the unusual idol, carefully turning thousands of fragile, bite-sized shells into a 13-foot structure.

Moisture battle

The most difficult part wasn't simply building the idol. Prashant Salunkhe said maintaining its balance and protecting thousands of delicate pani puri shells from moisture were major challenges, making the viral creation as much an engineering balancing act as an artistic project.

Bamboo backbone

Beneath the pani puri exterior sits an intentionally simple foundation. The team used paper and bamboo for the base structure, giving the installation an eco-friendly element while showing how unconventional materials can be woven into the spectacle and devotion surrounding Ganesh Chaturthi.

Digital darshan

While Pune experiments with pani puri shells, Mumbai's Ganeshotsav is expanding onto screens. NH Studioz plans to livestream famous Ganpati pandals, aartis and darshan through FAST television and its YouTube channel, taking the celebrations to devotees far beyond the city.