choosing a makhar for your Bappa

Most households buy the makhar and the lights separately, and then spend an evening working out how to get one to sit inside the other. This post is about the choices available, what each one costs, and how to pick a size that fits the murti you already have.

The four kinds, and what they cost

Prices below are from listings by Pune sellers, checked in August 2026.

Thermocol. Cheapest, widely sold, and increasingly not wanted — many housing societies and municipal collections now discourage it, and it does not survive a second year in storage.

MDF and cardboard. A 12-inch MDF makhar starts around ₹130. Medium sizes run to about ₹1,800. Larger cardboard backdrops, two feet by two feet, are listed around ₹4,999. Light, easy to store, and it looks like what it is.

Wood. Eco-friendly wooden makhars run ₹800 to ₹1,200; multicoloured wooden pieces around ₹2,900; a teak singhasan reaches ₹12,999. These last, and they are heavy.

Cloth and flower makhars. Softer, warmer, and the category most lit-backdrop specialists work in. Listed between ₹1,699 and ₹3,999.

The full market runs from ₹130 to about ₹13,000, with most stock between ₹300 and ₹3,200.

The lights are usually a second purchase

A string of decorative lights adds ₹300 to ₹800, and then has to be arranged around the makhar without being visible. It is the part of the setup that takes the longest and looks the least finished.

Our aasan has the fairy lights woven into the petals. They are part of the piece, not draped over it. One object, one plug, nothing to arrange.

Counted against what a household usually spends — a makhar at ₹800 to ₹1,800 plus lights at ₹300 to ₹800 — it sits inside the same total, and it comes out of the box lit next year.

What we make

The lotus aasan. A large flat lotus mandala in concentric chenille petals, with a coiled yellow seat at the centre where the murti sits. About 40 cm across. Four colourways: pink, magenta, ivory with a hot-pink inner, and marigold, which reads closest to genda phool. USB or battery. ₹1,499 — festival price, from ₹1,899, until 5 September.

The aasan with toran. The same lotus with a lit floral toran arch above it, a complete puja backdrop rather than a seat alone. 45 cm tall, six-inch lotus seat. ₹1,899 — festival price, from ₹2,100, until 5 September.

Both are sold without a murti. They are made to fit the Bappa you already have, and the six-inch seat takes the murti sizes most households keep.

How to choose

Measure the base of your murti, not its height. The seat is what has to fit.

Decide where it will stand. The flat aasan works against a wall or on a table. The toran needs height above it.

Order in time. Everything is made to order.

• Rest of India — order by 2 September. Ganesh Chaturthi is 14 September, and most households set up several days before.
• Delhi NCR — order by 9 September.
• Festival pricing ends 5 September, which is a different date from the shipping cutoff. If you are outside NCR, the 2 September date is the one that binds.

Made by hand in Gurugram. Flat ₹49 shipping anywhere in India.