Ganeshotsav 2023: Tech-savvy third-generation rural idol-makers forge success through digital innovation

In anticipation of the upcoming 10-day Ganeshotsav festival, idol-makers are tirelessly labouring around the clock, seven days a week, to ensure the timely creation of Ganpati idols and meet the market's burgeoning demand. This year, the festival is set to commence on September 19.

Mid-day interacted with rural Maharashtrian idol-makers to uncover their strategies for utilising digital technology in marketing their Ganpati creations and efficiently delivering them to urban devotees.

Nikit Patil, an individual educated in civil engineering, alongside his two brothers, continues to uphold their family legacy of crafting Ganpati idols in their hometown. Their dedication aims to preserve a tradition that was initiated by their grandfather in the Pen taluka of the Raigad district and is now skillfully managed by the third generation.

"Even though all three of us have full-time corporate jobs, we strongly believe in preserving our traditional family business," Patil emphasised. "We've inherited this artistic skill from our family, so why let it go to waste?"

Patil pointed out that with the growing workforce, managing the business has become more manageable. He explained, "In the past, only a few family members crafted and sold the idols in bulk. But now, we have a team of 15 to 20 skilled workers working under our guidance, each assigned specific tasks for crafting and completing the idols. With the increased workforce, the workload has reduced, and the business has flourished even further."

Reflecting a similar sentiment, another idol-maker from Pen taluka, Vinay Vithal Patil, shares a parallel narrative. Vinay (28) represents the third generation of idol-makers in his family. Following his higher secondary education, he pursued calligraphy and subsequently joined his family's idol-making workshop.

Currently managing the business with the assistance of 50 skilled workers, Vinay has successfully expanded the family business into a wholesale operation with a global reach.

Using digital platforms to maximise reach

Social media has proven to be a vital platform for rural idol-makers, enabling them to exhibit their creative prowess in idol-making and connect with devotees worldwide. Vinay, the proprietor of Vinay Arts, shared that he initiated an Instagram account two years ago, and the results have been remarkable. He expressed, "I've received an overwhelming response and received orders for idols through Instagram as well. At least 70 percent of the idols crafted in our workshop now find their way beyond Maharashtra's borders. The demand surged to such an extent that we had to suspend new orders approximately three months ago due to our production capacity."

When discussing how he leverages modern digital platforms to expand his business, Nikit explained, "Utilising social media has never posed a challenge for us. With a solid educational background, we were well-equipped to harness social media platforms efficiently to nurture our business. We established our Instagram presence approximately five to six years ago and continually strive to enhance our social media engagement in line with the latest trends."

The dedicated idol-makers in rural Maharashtra are on a year-round schedule to accommodate the ever-increasing demand during the festival season. Vinay jovially shared, "We've already begun planning and working for next year's festival," highlighting their unwavering commitment to their craft.

Getting orders from around the globe
Nikit mentions that they receive orders from around the globe. Notably, there is a substantial demand for Ganpati idols in places like Thailand and London.But, the idol-makers also have to face a lot of challenges while booking the order. One of the major challenges is the language barrier.

More than 2,000 Ganpati idols from a smaller section of Pen taluka are exported to Thailand, among other nations. However, securing these international orders poses its own set of challenges. One of the primary hurdles faced by the idol-makers is the language barrier, which they must navigate to successfully book these orders.

Highlighting the challenge, Vinay explained, "Communicating with the customers and giving them details plays an important role during the booking season. While the orders come from different countries, speaking to them fluently and understanding each other's language is a very challenging task. Now that most countries have distributors who are one point of contact for the order, the communication has become a bit easier."

According to the idol maker, there has been an increase in demand for Ganpati idols post-Covid. Nikit thinks maybe, post-lockdown, more devotees wish to celebrate the festival. "Usually there is a slight increase in demand, but post-Covid, the number of demands increased on a larger scale."

The demands from across India and the world are so high in certain regions/areas that Vinay plans to take orders from customers or distributors who order in bulk. He explains, "There is significantly less demand from Mumbai and Pune compared to Gujarat's Baroda or Thailand and London. In order to fulfill the demand and grow the business, it will be easier to focus on areas where the demand is higher."

Idols to be transported to locations like Thailand and London start getting transported at least three months in advance before the festival begins. While that for Gujarat begins around two months before the festival.

For Mumbai and Pune cities, the transportation starts at least a month in advance, and lastly, a few weeks before the festival for districts like Nashik and Nagpur.

Preference for digital payments is on the rise
While Nikit sells out his idols as wholesalers rather than retailers, he still believes that Internet banking for a larger payment amount is preferable. According to him, rather than counting cash, it is better to use digital transactions to transfer money quickly and keep it safe.

"We ask the customers to pay through UPI if it's a smaller amount, but for a larger amount, we still prefer Internet banking as a safer mode of online payment," said Nikit.

According to the idol-makers, the digital payment option has helped them avoid having a backlog of pending payments from their customers.

The idol-makers appreciate the convenience provided by UPI IDs like Google Pay and PayTM, which have streamlined the previously cumbersome payment process and made it significantly faster. Vinay explained, "Now, whether the customer is placing the order in person or over the phone, or even if they don't have cash on hand, it's easier to instruct them to make a digital payment through their phones. This has enabled us to eliminate the need for keeping 'yet to be paid' money logbooks, preventing any payment delays."

Keeping the family tradition alive

Some idol-makers who exclusively create idols for in-state transportation within Maharashtra have chosen not to rely on social media to expand their customer base. Their focus remains on serving the local market, in contrast to those who primarily concentrate on exporting idols beyond the state's borders.

Hemant Ramade, an idol from Sindhudurg district's Malvan taluka, prefers to keep it a low-key business. Ramade, who also organises water sports activities for tourists in Malvan as a secondary source of income, prefers to continue the idol-making business only to uphold the family tradition.

"We don't feel that expanding our customer base outside Maharashtra is necessary. Making idols for nearby villagers and our long-term clients is how we plan to maintain the legacy of our ancestors' business," according to idol maker Ramade.