Ganesh Chaturthi 2021: ‘Adopting eco-friendly practices is the way to go,’ says Rithvik Dhanjani, who makes his own clay idol

Ganesh Chaturthi 2021: ‘Adopting eco-friendly practices is the way to go,’ says Rithvik Dhanjani, who makes his own clay idol

He also shares childhood memories of the festival, talks about his love for the Lord, and more

Gurpreet KaurUpdated: Saturday, September 11, 2021, 11:33 PM IST
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Actor Rithvik Dhanjani has been bringing the Ganpati idol to home for almost two decades now, but for the past five years, he has made sure to go the eco-friendly way during Ganesh Chaturthi by making the idol himself at home.

This year too, Rithvik has carved out a beautiful Ganesh idol at his home. Talking about the process, he says, “It’s very simple, all that is required is laal mitti (red clay) — from which the idol is made, your art and a table. You need nothing else to make the Ganpati idol.”

He stresses on the importance of making an eco-friendly idol. “Your urge to do something for the environment is very important,” the actor adds.

Before he realised the importance of environment-friendly idols, he randomly went and bought the idol from outside, just like everyone else. However, it was his friend and actor Raqesh Bapat who inspired him to make his idol at home. “Raqesh has been making the Ganpati idol at his home for the past 10 years now. I wasn’t really aware of how it is made. It was he who made me realise that this is something that I want to do too. So it started off with him, and ever since then, I am trying to take the bandwagon ahead so that more and more people adopt this eco-friendly way of celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi,” Rithvik shares.

He is elated that more people and fellow actors are adopting eco-friendly practices to avoid what happens every year during visarjan, the last day of the 10-day festival. “We all need to pay attention that adopting eco-friendly practices is the way to go, and more and more people should make it their living habit in order to look after the environment,” he adds. 

Ask him to share some anecdotes from his childhood Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations, and the Pavitra Rishta-fame actor gets nostalgic. “I am from Madhya Pradesh, so all my fellow kids, we used to keep Ganesh idol for 11 days. We used to ask people for donations by going to different homes. We had a doctor near our house who gave us Rs 101, so we made sure that we gave him one ladoo for each day. First, we collected money, got the idol, and set it up from the sand and stones from construction sites as we did not have too much money. All the boys, including me, were even caught while we were trying to get the scrap material from a sugar factory as we wanted to use it for decoration. So we had a lot of fun during my childhood Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations,” Rithvik says.

Interestingly, Rithvik admits that he is still very close to Lord Ganesha. Rithvik says, “He’s my confidante. I always pray to him, talk to him and cry to him. Although it is on Ganesh Chaturthi that you call him home for the festivities, I feel he is always with me. That’s the kind of relationship I share with him,” the actor mentions, adding that this year he’s planning to have low-key celebrations. “I am not going to call a lot of people as my parents are there. I will only invite my close network of people.”

Last but not least, he clarifies that his ritual of making an eco-friendly idol will go on for life. “But apart from this, I don’t follow anything. I only believe in the love and respect that I have for Bappa in my heart.”

He signs off by saying that he wishes Bappa “blesses our entire human race with enlightenment, and we start realising that the problem of global warming can only be solved by making eco-friendly measures. Otherwise, we might not be able to reverse its effects.”

Workwise, Rithvik was last seen in Cartel, which is currently streaming on ALTBalaji. He has also been associated for the first time with an audio show — Buri Nazar, an Audible Original thriller.

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