Mumbai celebs have eco-friendly idols for Ganeshotsav 2022

After a gap of two years, Mumbai is celebrating Ganeshotsav with much gusto. Celebrities in the city including musicians, singers and actors have eco-friendly Ganpati at home. Talking to us about it Akriti Kakar says, “We started bringing Ganpati bappa over since we got married. This is our 6th year! First year my mom made Ganpati with paper mache and the following years we’ve been getting the Tree Ganesha.”
Akriti along with her family and relatives do the decoration of the pooja area and the idol a day before Ganesh Chaturthi so that everything is ready beforehand.She has a unique way to celebrate this festival and does not give traditional sweets as prasad. “For me personally, Ganpati celebrations are bigger and more prestigious than even Diwali! As prasad we don’t give Mithai, we give plants and everyone who received it has absolutely loved the idea. For visarjan it is a whole lot of bhajans and jamming and friends getting together to make memories and seeking blessings! It’s an open house for three whole days. We do visarjan at home itself and use that mitti in plants at home. We've grown mint, lemongrass, sunflower, ladyfinger, chillies, tulsi over the years with the visarjan mitti we get at home from Ganpati’s idol.”
Shilpa Rao who always celebrates Ganeshotsav with her family is doing the same this year. She along with her husband Ritesh Krishnan have ushered in an eco-friendly idol this year. “Since my childhood we have been having Ganpati at home and I have seen my grandparents do the puja. And now I am continuing the tradition and I always get an eco-friendly Ganpati at home. We do the visarjan at home too.”
Bollywood singer Shruti Pathak believes that being eco-friendly is of the utmost importance in today’s day and age. “Hence my Ganpati idol is made of pure clay. After visarjan, the clay will be put in my plants. So that more life grows around us. The idea is to keep the beautiful vibes of Ganesh Chaturthi around us all year long.Also, life is a cycle, and this indeed would be a stunning example of the same when the clay of visarjan grows into beautiful flowers,” she shares.