Sculptor Vishal Shinde On How Bal Ganesha Turned His Childhood Craft Into A Calling

Sculptor Vishal Shinde's journey in Ganesha idol-making began in his childhood at the age of six, when he started learning the craft from his father, Suryakant Ramchandra Shinde. Despite having left school after eighth standard, Suryakant continued sculpting idols with devotion, making it the family legacy. After completing college around 2010, Vishal began experimenting with portraying Ganesha as a child, inspired by his surroundings.

He observed how kids played and imagined Ganesha in a child's form, eventually developing a distinctive style that found a large audience.

His conceptual idols gained popularity after being posted on Facebook between 2017 and 2019, with customers facing waiting periods of two to three years. However, Vishal noticed a growing sense of competition among devotees over the appearance and scale of their Ganpati celebrations, which bothered him. He decided to stop taking orders for highly conceptual idols, shifting his focus to traditional-style idols and mould-based designs to make them more accessible.

Today, Vishal offers nearly 55 variations of Ganpati idols, adding one or two new models every year. The sculpting process is painstaking, with a one-to-two-foot idol taking two to three days to sculpt, followed by a week of drying, finishing, and painting, which takes nearly two weeks. Despite the challenges, Vishal credits his family for making the journey possible, especially during difficult times like the lockdown when he had a steady supply of idols ready. He emphasizes that the purpose of Ganesh Chaturthi should be devotion, not competition.