Remember, in primary school, we used to start an essay on any festival with “India is a country of festivals” and indeed it is. Every festival at that time gave us big smiles because of the fun involved with the celebration and of course the school holidays.
But at this moment, we all know that apart from merely celebration and spiritual importance, festivals in India involve tons of money in the form of donation, the income of workers, and many more.
Today, we are going to discuss economics related to one of the most celebrated festivals in Maharashtra and the Western region of India, Ganesh Chaturthi. To give it a fancy name, I am calling it “Ganesh-Economics”.
To just remind you, analysis is not of the year 2020 and I need no further explanation of the reason.
Numbers attached to Idols sold:
In a normal year, almost 30-50 lacs families heartily welcome Ganeshji to their houses. On average, an idol costs around ₹ 2000 - 3000. I trust you can calculate the final amount further on your own. Not just this, but the price of idols is increasing at the rate of 25-30%.
Here we are ignoring the fact that many wealthy as well as religious families and ‘pandal / mandap’ give special order for their idols.
Just to clarify, I am not evaluating faith with money. But the huge amount involved with it is generating income for many artists and workers. Which is of course, a good side and we are focusing only on that.
Number of Pandals across India:
Mumbai, which is famous for many pandals, alone accounts for nearly 20,000 pandals. Following the same path, Pune has around 7000 pandals. My city, Ahmedabad touches the number of 2000 every year.
The size of pandals is not the only thing which is growing, but the number of pandals is also increasing by 10% every year.
The cost of a pandal also includes the rent or cost of bamboo and other material to build the pandal, chairs, tables, and many other things. Many times it also includes rent of that space.
Jobs emerged during the festival:
After understanding the scale of the festival, we must get an idea that we need many people to make it a success.
Apart from artists to craft an idol, we also need watchmen, pandits, Sevak, and many others to handle a pandal. Yes, you are going on the right track! How can we forget ‘Modak’? Sweets also take a large share of men working behind the curtains for the festival.
You might be thinking that it is not a big deal for the nation. I agree, but for those people, it is.
Insurances:
Once a wise man said: “If you want to determine the value of any asset then check the insurance of it.” Don’t Google for that person, I just made that up. :P
It is quite obvious that the insurance amount of Ganesh pandal would be too big considering the amount of money involved in it. To give you a number, large pandal’s insurance can touch a whopping ₹ 250 cr. Where a large amount of insurance is for volunteers and devotees visiting the holy place. And of course, for jewellry and donation amounts.
This is not just limited to large pandals. Even small pandals insure them with an amount of ₹ 5 - 7 cr.
The good side of all this ‘money talk’ is, most of the generated revenue is used in the betterment of society and helping the needy.
Now, next year think about the system running behind it when you will celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi.
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