Mention Ganesh Chaturthi and the visuals that come to the mind usually comprise colossal pandals, massive gatherings, aarti being broadcast live on television and oodles of modaks and ladoos being distributed as prasad. And then there was the chance to catch a glimpse of your lovable celeb at one of the Ganpati pandals! But, the pandemic has shifted the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations of many, including the celebrities, to homes this year. And same is the case with actor Juhi Parmar, whose personalised Ganesh Utsav at her home will have an eco-friendly Ganesha idol.
“Me and my daughter learnt to make an eco-friendly Ganpati idol together in an online class this year. It was great fun,” says Juhi, who feels that creating your own idol is always more special than buying one from the market. She explains, “The attachment that one has towards the idol is much more then because we have created it ourselves. Honestly, be it making the idol yourself or purchasing it, the moment you place it and do the sthapana (establishment), you get attached to the idol. But, yes, this time the celebration is certainly more personalised because we have made the idol ourselves.”
What makes Juhi’s Ganesha stand out is that it’s packed with a surprise! “The best part is that this Ganpati idol, which my daughter and I have made, is ‘Plant a Ganesha’ idol because we are going to carry out the visarjan in a pot and will add seeds to it while doing the visarjan. So, once the moorti (idol) completely dilutes and becomes soil again, there’s going to be a beautiful plant coming out of it, and we will always have the love and blessings of Ganpati in the form of that plant.”
{{/usCountry}}What makes Juhi’s Ganesha stand out is that it’s packed with a surprise! “The best part is that this Ganpati idol, which my daughter and I have made, is ‘Plant a Ganesha’ idol because we are going to carry out the visarjan in a pot and will add seeds to it while doing the visarjan. So, once the moorti (idol) completely dilutes and becomes soil again, there’s going to be a beautiful plant coming out of it, and we will always have the love and blessings of Ganpati in the form of that plant.”
{{/usCountry}}The Ganpati visarjan is another big affair, which usually brings hoards of devotees together as they carry their Ganesha idols to the water bodies while dancing on the way, to submerge the idol. But this year’s celebrations will be subdues due to Covid-19, and the public in general is being encouraged to carry out the visarjan at their home itself. Juhi says, “I advise everyone to stay at home and not step out for visarjan by making groups or going on the road because it’s not safe. The whole world is fighting this pandemic and we have to contribute from our side, and the best way to do that this Ganesh Chaturthi is to make an eco-friendly Ganpati at home, and do the visarjan in your house or balcony or within your society itself.”
Juhi will herself carry out the visarjan of her Ganpati statue at her home, and reminiscing how different the whole fest used to be in the pre-pandemic times, she says, “This year Ganesh Chathurthi celebrations will be different as we will be at home, and won’t invite people for darshan (visit). For the last two years, I’ve been ushering Ganpati, and the whole vibe has been absolutely festive. We got to meet people on Chaturthi, who we couldn’t meet throughout the year. While me and my family are going to miss that but, looking at the present scenario, we have to be responsible citizens and must practice social distancing. So this year, we have welcomed Ganpati at home, with the same excitement, but the only difference is that this year He won’t have many visitors.”
Author tweets @FizzyBuddha
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