Hyderabad’s Ganesh puja: Big on devotion, bigger on moolah
The Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Hyderabad has evolved into a massive economic engine, generating billions of rupees in activity. The festival supports a wide range of industries, from logistics and aviation to catering and idol manufacturing.
Why it matters
It illustrates how large-scale cultural and religious festivals function as significant drivers of local economies and employment.
A helicopter hovering over a Ganesh idol is not an everyday sight, even in a city that goes all out for its biggest festival. On September 24, as an immersion procession wound its way towards the Hussainsagar, the six-seater Airbus H125 showered the idol with flower petals from above. It was a fleeting spectacle, but one that involved considerable logistical arrangements and expense. And it was only a small part of the elaborate machinery that keeps Hyderabad’s Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations running.
Behind the towering idols, elaborate pandals and processions that stretch late into the night lies an economy of its own. Idol-makers, decorators, sound operators, transporters, crane companies, caterers and scores of workers find business in the festival while organisers marshal donations and sponsorships to pay for the spectacle.
The flower shower was organised by Hanuman Youth Association, which installed an idol in Bowrampet.
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