1.5 lakh homes in Ahmedabad get ready to welcome Ganesha

While piety-gripped Amdavadis chant Ganpati Bappa Morya on Wednesday, idols making space in city homes is also expected to reach mammoth proportions today. Guesstimates peg a total of more than 1,50,000 statues of the Lord that are likely to grace Amdavadis’ homes from Wednesday.

Looking at the sales figures of Gulbai Tekra alone, it seems likely that city worshippers of the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune, have also bought their deity’s idols from other cities too.

On Tuesday, idol makers of Gulbai Tekra, considered hub of idol-making in the city, was seen making brisk business. ‘Hollywood’ as it is popularly called, saw massive footfalls on Tuesday with devotees indulging in the last minute purchase of idols in the narrow lanes.

Despite facing low demand compared to last year, each idol maker, on an average was able to sell around 50-100 idols. “I had made 150 idols of plaster of paris (PoP) and have managed to sell around 70% of them till now. I am hoping that my finish my stock looking at the crowd,” said Arjunbhai, an idol maker at Gulbai Tekra.

Gulbai Tekra alone has around 1,200 idol makers and is the single largest supplier of Ganesha idols to the city as well other parts of the state. According to a rough estimate, around 90% of the total idols of the city are supplied by Gulbai Tekra. Every idol maker at Gulbai Tekra made around 50-100 idols, out of which, 60% were sold before Tuesday.

Another idol maker, Govindbhai said that he had made around 50 idols and had already sold 25 of them.

Gulbai Tekra was not the only place selling Ganesha idols as Sabarmati jail inmates also did good business. Most of their idols had been sold by Tuesday. Talking about the idols sold, Sabarmati jail superintendent, RJ Parghi said, “Ten prisoners had made 250 idols of clay ranging from 2 to 8 feet. We did a good business this year as around 200 idols have already been sold.”

Some ardent followers have not kept their horizon limited to city alone as they have gone on idol hunting spree to as far as Mumbai and many other places. Cities like Vadodara, Mumbai and others have also received orders from the Amdavadis for their favourite lord. One such mandal in Maninagar area has placed order for a huge idol from Mumbai. “We have ordered huge idol from Mumbai measuring 11-feet to give it an entirely different look,” said Parag Naik, member of Shree Shivshakti Yuvak mandal.