{
  "id": 8583127,
  "title": "Sculptor Vishal Shinde On How Bal Ganesha Turned His Childhood Craft Into A Calling",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/20/sculptor-vishal-shinde-on-how-bal-ganesha-turned-his-childhood-craft",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-20T02:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Press Journal",
    "slug": "free-press-journal",
    "url": "https://www.freepressjournal.in/lifestyle/sculptor-vishal-shinde-on-how-bal-ganesha-turned-his-childhood-craft-into-a-calling"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "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.\n\nHis 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.\n\nToday, 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.",
  "summary": "For sculptor Vishal Shinde Ganesha idol-making began in childhood. At six, he started learning the craft from his father, Suryakant Ramchandra Shinde, who had been sculpting idols for years despite having left school after eighth standard. Even while working in a mill after marriage, Suryakant Shinde continued making Ganpati idols with devotion because that was his passion. The family legacy…",
  "key_points": [
    "Vishal Shinde started sculpting Ganesha idols at age six under his father's guidance.",
    "His distinctive child Ganesha style gained popularity online between 2017-2019.",
    "Vishal shifted focus to traditional idols, balancing family support and devotion."
  ],
  "editors_take": "By shifting focus to traditional-style idols, Vishal Shinde aims to make Ganesha idols more accessible, downplaying competition in Ganpati celebrations and stressing devotion over appearance.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}