The Ganesha Gali aka Hollywood of Ahmedabad

3 min readAug 13, 2018

Hello, Thanks for joining me. India is a country of festivals. From August festival months are started. So, let’s talk about one festival called Ganesh Chaturthi and how it’s celebrated in Ahmedabad, how murti is made.

Before that let me know About Ganesh Chaturthi. The festival celebrates Lord Ganesha as the God of New Beginnings and the Remover of Obstacles as well as the god of wisdom and intelligence and is observed throughout India, especially in the states such as Maharashtra, Goa, Telangana, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh. Although it is unknown when (or how) Ganesha Chaturthi was first observed, the festival has been publicly celebrated in Pune since the era of Shivaji (1630–1680, founder of the Maratha Empire).

Now if we talk about Gujarat and especially about Ahmedabad the Public preparations for the festivities begin months in advance. Preparation for the festival, artisans create clay models of Ganesha for sale. So In Ahmedabad Gulbai Tekra aka Hollywood of Gujarat which houses nearly 7,000 people is the Dharavi of Ahmedabad. Most residents are Bavris (Rajasthani Marwadis) who make idols before festival time, work as domestic help and as labourers.

So why Gulbai Tekra aka Hollywood?

Well, very few people know that photographer Kannagi Khanna framed women of the village like some of the Hollywood actresses. Inspired from some Hollywood portraits, Khanna made the women of the village pose like the actresses and did a photo shoot. The photographs were appreciated worldwide. She also wrote about her experience on The Big Indian Picture. The village came into light after the photographs circulated on the web and since then it’s called the Hollywood of Gujarat.

So how they make Murti (Idols)?

The sixth generation is making idols of Dasha ma, Ganesha and sometimes of superheroes. The kids already know a lot about making the moulds, retouching, and painting the idols. About a couple of months before Ganesh Chaturthi, young and old, men and women — get busy making idols moulds. They never have repetitive designs. All idol makers have their different designs. Ganesha idols formation have different stages of making. They make in small plastic tents, on the roadside, inside houses. This is why the locality has another name too — Ganesha Galli.

In the starting, they made moulds and then with the use of POP and coconut skin they make murti. Once murti gets dried they start painting with beautiful colours.

You get to see Ganeshas in the process of being formed, artists busy at work. Most of them welcome you with a charming smile, are extremely pleased to have their photograph taken. Citizens of Ahmedabad Come to Gulabai tekra and buy the Ganesha idol that will grace their home every year. They get a lot to choose from.

So let’s take a tour of Hollywood Basti.