Industries · Ganeshotsav & Festive

Makhar, mandap, everything around Ganpati.

Custom Ganpati makhar and mandap decor, 3D printed in Mumbai

From its studio in Powai, Mumbai, FabraForma designs and makes sectional, reusable Ganpati decor for homes, housing societies and mandals.

Custom Ganpati decoration built to last: makhar and singhasan, mandap panels, toran, mandal name boards and festival gifting. The pieces you keep and bring out again next year.

Get a quote See what we make

4 SepGanesh Chaturthi 2027 (Saturday) — sthapana and aagman

14 SepAnant Chaturdashi 2027 (Tuesday) — the main visarjan day

24 hrQuote response, through the festival too

What it looks like

Concept renders — what we build, not photographs of past jobs

Modelled in 3D and rendered in a virtual studio, so you can see the kind of thing before you commission it. Every size, colour and ornament here is a starting point, not a catalogue.

Concept render of a sectional makhar: navy temple-form arch on two pillars over a gold-edged plinth, with jaali lattice side panels and a warm LED line inside the arch, empty, in a dark studio — **Sectional makhar**Temple-form arch on two pillars, gold capitals, jaali side panels, a warm LED line inside the arch, ready for your murti.

Concept render of a prabhavali: a navy halo arch with gold inner and outer rims, gold rays radiating outward and small gold bosses along the band, on a low base — **Prabhavali halo arch**Navy band, gold rims, rays radiating past the ring, lotus bosses, LED behind. Cast in sections from one SLA master so every ray matches.

Concept render of a mandap jaali screen: a gold diamond lattice with round nodes inside a navy frame beside a navy pillar with a gold bracket, warm light glowing through — **Mandap jaali screen**Diamond lattice with gold nodes in a navy frame, warm light through it from behind — a backlit mandap panel on the night of aarti.

Concept render of a mandal name board: raised gold lettering reading Ganpati Bappa Morya on a navy panel with a gold inset border, mounted on two posts and edge-lit from behind — **Mandal name board**Raised gold lettering on navy, inset border, LED channel behind. Reads 'Ganpati Bappa Morya' here; a real board carries your mandal's name in Devanagari.

Concept render of a two-part pink silicone mould opened on a dark slate bench, hemispherical cavities facing up, with a white cast kalash-style finial standing between the halves — **Silicone mould, opened**Two-part mould on the bench with a cast finial between the halves. The idol-maker presses shadu clay into this — the mould is ours, the idol is theirs.

Styles people ask for

Nine styles from this year's boards, rebuilt as things we can print

We looked at what people save on Pinterest and buy for Ganeshotsav 2026, then modelled the styles that keep recurring as sectional, reusable pieces. Each one is a concept render, not a photograph of a past job, and each seat is left ready for your murti.

Concept render of a peacock-fan makhar: blue and teal feather blades with eyes radiating from a gold medallion behind an empty maroon throne on a navy platform, in a dark studio — **Mor makhar — peacock fan**Feather blades in peacock blue and teal, each with an eye on a gold quill, radiating from a gold hub behind an empty throne. One of the most-pinned Ganpati themes, built as keyed fronds on a sectional hub.

Concept render of a lotus throne: rings of pink petals with gold ribs around an empty gold seat on a round tiered platform, tall petals behind, marigold garland and small lamps at the base — **Kamal aasan — lotus throne**Three staggered rings of blush and rani-pink petals around an empty gold seat, tall petals rising behind as the backdrop, a marigold mala and diyas at the base.

Concept render of a golden ring backdrop: a large gold hoop on brass posts wrapped with marigold garlands and hanging flower strings, fairy lights along the ring, a wooden seat, kalash and lamps inside — **Golden ring backdrop**A 2.2 m gold hoop on a brass stand with fairy lights along the ring, marigold garlands and hanging strings, a wooden chowki inside. The most common home setup on the boards.

Concept render of a temple-facade makhar in sandstone and cream: pillared porch with a gold cusped arch and maroon drape inside, side wings with small domes, a curved shikhara tower with gold bands, kalash finials and a saffron flag — **Mandir makhar — sandstone temple**Stepped platform, pillared porch with a cusped entrance, jharokha wings with domes, and a nagara shikhara with gold bands, kalash and a saffron dhwaja. The dominant mandal theme of the last three years, at home scale.

Concept render of a Rajwada palace makhar: ivory facade with a large gold cusped arch, maroon drape and empty gold seat inside, two domed balconies, small cusped windows, merlons and two minarets with domed pavilions — **Jharokha makhar — Rajwada palace**Ivory palace facade with a great cusped arch in antique gold, projecting jharokha balconies with domes, a row of small windows, a merlon parapet and chhatri-topped minarets. Maroon velvet inside.

Concept render of a three-tier ceremonial umbrella canopy in deep red and gold with fringe and tassels, on a gold stem over an empty seat — **Chhatri — tiered umbrella canopy**Three deep-red tiers with gold ribs, scalloped fringe and tassels on a gold stem, crowned with a kalash, over an empty seat. Gores print flat and key together.

Concept render of a Kailash mountain backdrop: faceted white snow peaks over grey-blue rock with a dark night sky, an empty ledge in front — **Kailash parvat backdrop**Faceted snow peaks, a rock ledge and a cool night sky in place of thermocol mountains. The shells print in sections and nest for storage.

Concept render of a lion throne: a gold frame with two small gold lions at the front, purple velvet cushion and bolsters, a lobed gold back panel, empty — **Sinhasan — lion throne**Gold frame with two cast lions, purple velvet cushion and bolsters, and a lobed back panel. Empty, as every seat here is.

Concept render of a swing frame: silver posts and rails, a suspended seat on chains with bells, marigold and white flower garlands and a mango-leaf toran along the top rail, empty — **Jhula — swing frame**Silver posts and rails, chains and bells, marigold and mogra garlands and a mango-leaf toran. The seat swings empty.

What we make

For homes, societies and mandals

Makhar & singhasan

The frame the murti is installed in and the seat it sits on — arched, temple-form or modern, sized to your idol's height. Printed, joined and finished so it photographs well and packs away whole for next year.

Mandap panels & backdrops

Pillars, side panels, arches and jaali-style screens. Larger than a print bed means sectioned builds — printed in pieces, joined, reinforced and finished to a seamless surface.

Toran, nameboards & signage

Door torans, mandal nameboards, sponsor boards and wayfinding for pandals — cut, printed and finished to read cleanly from a distance and survive a crowd.

Moulds for shadu mati idol makers

We print the master pattern and cast silicone or PU moulds from it, so an artisan can press natural clay into a repeatable form. The mould is ours; the idol stays clay, and stays theirs — their material, their design, their result.

Ganesh Chaturthi corporate gifting

Batch-made desk pieces, branded keepsakes, modak-themed gifts and packaging — commissioned for your brand, not picked from a catalogue. More on gifting →

Mandal & brand activation builds

Sponsor branding, photo-op props, scaled set pieces and installation hardware for pandals and society celebrations. More on event builds →

Timing

Planning for Ganeshotsav 2027?

Ganeshotsav 2027 begins with Ganesh Chaturthi on Saturday 4 September and runs to Anant Chaturdashi on Tuesday 14 September. Here is the honest position on timing.

Small pieces — a nameboard, a sponsor panel, a batch of gifting items, a replacement part for decor that broke on the way in — can sometimes be turned around close to the festival. Send the date with the enquiry and we will tell you within 24 hours whether it fits.

A full sectioned makhar or a mandap set is a planned job. Printing, joining and finishing at that size is measured in weeks, not days. If that is what you need, start the conversation now, while this year's setup is fresh and you can see exactly what you would change.

What we need from you

The murti height, and the space it sits in
Your date — aagman, or the day it must be installed
A reference photo or sketch; CAD if you have it
Whether it must pack down for storage

A photo on WhatsApp is enough to start. Message the studio →

How it comes together

From a photo of last year's setup to a makhar that packs flat

Measure and brief.
Send the murti height, the width and depth of the corner or hall it sits in, and a photo of last year's Ganpati decoration. Reference images of a temple, a theme or a mandal you liked are just as useful as a drawing.
Design and section.
We model the makhar, prabhavali arch or mandap in CAD and decide the split lines — where the piece comes apart for printing, for the lift up your building's stairs, and for storage in a Mumbai flat afterwards.
Print and cast.
Panels and structure on the Bambu Lab FDM fleet; fine ornament, mukut detail and repeat elements as SLA resin masters cast in PU through our silicone moulds, so twelve identical brackets cost far less than twelve printed ones.
Join and finish.
Sections are keyed, joined and reinforced, then the seams are filled and sanded out on the finishing bench. Gilding, marble effect, wood effect, colour-matched paint or clear-coat — decided against the light your setup actually sits in.
Deliver and install.
Numbered sections, fixings, assembly notes and touch-up paint. Pickup in Powai, delivery across Mumbai, or shipped pan-India for a mandal outside the city.

Finish and pack

Seamless when it stands, flat when it is stored

The finishing and packing stages described above.

3D-printed makhar arch segment on a workbench: raw white sections with layer lines and a stepped key beside the same piece joined and painted antique gold — **Printed sections, then a seamless finish**Raw keyed print sections beside the same arch segment joined, filled and painted antique gold, with the seam gone.

Open cardboard carton holding flat-packed navy and gold makhar arch, pillar and lattice sections in bubble wrap, beside a tray with a fixings pouch, hex key, touch-up paint and tape — **A home makhar packed into one carton**Arch, pillar and lattice sections packed flat with fixings, a hex key and touch-up paint, ready to store in a Mumbai flat until next year.

Two lanes

Homes and societies, or mandals and brands

For homes and housing societies

Most Mumbai homes do not have a spare room to store a makhar in. That constraint drives the design more than the theme does.

— Sectional makhar and prabhavali that flat-pack into one box
— Compact setups scaled to a 1BHK corner, not a hall
— Mukut, ornaments and decorative panels for the chaurang the murti stands on, matched to the murti you already have
— Toran, name plates and rangoli stencils in matching finish
— LED channels designed into the panel, not taped on afterwards

For mandals, brands and retail

Public Ganeshotsav work is a different job: bigger, faster, and judged by how it survives eleven days of crowd and weather.

— Mandal name boards and sponsor branding, sized to read across a street
— Photo-op props and oversized decorative modak or laddoo sculptures for activations
— Mall, lobby and retail festive displays, install-ready and numbered
— Theme-based mandap sets: temple facades, jaali screens, pillar and bracket systems
— Repeat elements cast rather than printed, so a run of forty brackets is affordable

The tooling line

Moulds for shadu mati idol makers

This is the part of our Ganeshotsav work we are most convinced by, because it puts a printer to use on the problem regulators and Mumbai buyers actually care about: getting more idols made in natural clay.

Shadu mati is the fine natural clay traditionally used for Ganpati murtis in Maharashtra — soft enough to take fine detail, air-dried rather than fired, and, unlike Plaster of Paris, it breaks down in water and settles back as silt. Most of the shadu Maharashtra's idol-makers use is mined outside the state, largely around Bhavnagar in Gujarat, and trucked to idol-making centres such as Pen in Raigad and to workshops across Mumbai. Its drawback for a working idol maker is throughput: hand-sculpting every piece is slow, and clay is fragile while it dries.

A mould fixes the throughput without changing the material. We scan or model the artisan's own sculpt, print an SLA master with the detail intact, and cast a silicone production mould from it on our casting bench. The artisan presses shadu clay into their own design, as many times as the season needs. The tool is polymer; the idol stays clay — the artisan's material, their design and their work. We make the mould; we make no claim about how any idol behaves in water.

The same tooling makes gift-boxed "make your own Bappa" clay kits for schools, societies and CSR programmes — a mould, a bag of shadu mati and natural colours.

What we need to quote a mould

The original sculpt, or photographs from several angles
Finished idol height, and how many you plan to make in a season
Whether it is a one-piece press mould or needs to split
Who owns the design — we only tool designs you have the right to make

We quote artisan and NGO tooling differently from commercial work. Say which you are.

Questions

Ganeshotsav fabrication, answered

What is a makhar and can you make a custom one?

The makhar is the decorated frame, canopy or enclosure the murti is installed in — often an arched or temple-shaped form, sized to the idol. It is distinct from the singhasan, which is the throne or seat the murti actually sits on, and from the backdrop panel behind it, though the three are usually bought and built together. Yes, we make custom makhar to your design or ours, sized to your murti's height and finished to match your theme. Larger makhar are printed in sections, joined, reinforced and finished so the seams do not read.

How big can a makhar or mandap panel be?

There is no hard ceiling. Parts larger than our print bed are sectioned, printed as pieces, joined, reinforced and finished to a seamless surface — the same method we use for exhibition builds. Tell us the murti height and the space it sits in and we will work back from that.

Can you make moulds for shadu mati clay idols?

Yes. We print the master pattern and make silicone or PU moulds from it on our casting bench, so an idol maker can press natural shadu clay into a repeatable form. The tool is polymer; the idol stays clay — the artisan's material, their design and their work. We make the mould; we make no claim about how any idol behaves in water.

Can you deliver during the festival?

It depends on the part and the date. Ganeshotsav 2027 runs from Ganesh Chaturthi on Saturday 4 September to Anant Chaturdashi on Tuesday 14 September. Small pieces, nameboards and gifting items can sometimes be turned around close to the festival. A full sectioned makhar or mandap set needs planning and is usually booked ahead. Send the date with the enquiry and we will tell you honestly whether it fits.

Do you take Ganesh Chaturthi corporate gifting orders?

Yes — batch-made desk pieces, branded keepsakes, modak-themed gifts and packaging, designed for your brand rather than picked from a catalogue. These are keepsakes meant to be kept, not immersed. Batch sizes and lead times are quoted per job.

Ganpati Bappa Morya

Send a photo of your setup and the date you need it by. A real person replies within 24 hours — through the festival too.

Get a quote