Pabsetti Shekhar, a resident of Hyderabad claims to have collected 19,022 Idols of Lord Ganesha. He also appears to have a wide collection of 20,426 photographs, 1098 posters, 200 Ganesha key-chains and 201 audio-video cassettes on Lord Ganesha.

The collection includes idols from many countries

Pabsetti Shekhar recalls visiting Sai Baba temple in Shirdi during his childhood in July 1973 along with his parents, where he bought a Ganesh Idol and that when he started his collection. "My collection is from India, USA, Japan, China, Afghanistan, Singapore and other countries. My collection includes 32 forms of Ganesh statues from Bala Ganapati to Sankatahara Ganapati and also Shub Drishti Ganesh, the 33rd form of Ganesh," said Shekhar.

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The idols of Ganesh that Shekhar has collected are made of gold, silver, bronze, sandalwood, rosewood and several other materials. He has sketched various forms of Ganesha in modern art and also made of M-Seal, Plaster of Paris (PoP), ceramic powder, glass painting and thread. Pabsetti was awarded the 'Best Collection Award' in Temple of Fine Arts, in Malaysia. He had also performed during Vishwa Vinayaka Ganesh festival in 2003, Hyderabad. He organized an exhibition at Juluri Veereshalingam Hall in Secunderabad and donated the rent generated from the stall to an orphanage.

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Pabsetti claims to have been honoured by the Guinness World Records for the largest collection of Ganesha-related items and by LIMCA Book of Indian Records among many other awards. "I am scripting a book 'Vishwa Vinayaka', covering world Ganesh Temples and Indian Ganesh Temples. This book will be published for charity. I have a plan of Constructing Punch Mukha Ganesh Temple at Hyderabad to help needy people and to solve various problems of the people," he said.

Unique and Eco-friendly idols 

During the ongoing festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, people have found ways to showcase Lord Ganesha in a variety of unique ways. One such unique example is the Ganesha Idol which has been made in Bengaluru. The 30-feet tall idol is made from 9000 coconuts and has been installed near the Puttengally Ganesha temple this year. The idol is eco-friendly and was carefully constructed for 20 days by over 70 devotees. Interestingly, apart from coconuts, more than 20 types of vegetables were used to make the idol.

READ | Ganesha idol made of 9000 coconuts, Bengaluru temple goes eco-friendly

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(With inputs from ANI)