India is a treasure trove of eco-friendly, sustainable economic activities that generate income and employment for millions across the country. Over centuries, Indian culture has created demand for a wide range of products — the majority of them religious artifacts, utility and decorative items made from biodegradable materials. These products do more than generate employment; they boost exports, keep the environment safe and bring people joy.
For about eight centuries, the artisans of Pipili have been making banners, flags, canopies and fans for the rituals of the Lord Jagannath temple in Puri. During the Rath Yatra, both Hindu and Muslim artisans decorate the three chariots with beautiful appliqué work. Today, this craft is known worldwide as the Appliqué work of Pipili.
More than 800 years ago, the Gajapati kings of Puri engaged a few Muslim Durgis (artisan tailors) to make appliqué works for the temple. The artisans were given a village to live in and carry on their craft. That village is Pipili today, and its appliqué work has become popular in both domestic and international markets.
The religious festivals of the Jagannath temple have also given birth to rich handicraft traditions such as Patta Chitra, palm-leaf carvings and Solapith work. A genuine 15-square-foot Patta Chitra fetches more than Rs 10 lakh — a testament to the extraordinary value addition these crafts command. Only skilled artisans can create such value.
Indian culture has inspired painting traditions across the country. The Madhubani paintings of Bihar, the Thanjavur paintings of Tamil Nadu, the Kangra paintings of Himachal Pradesh, the Cheriyal paintings of Telangana, the Kalighat paintings of West Bengal, the traditional paintings of Rajasthan, the mural art of Kerala, the tribal paintings of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, and the Warli paintings of Maharashtra all draw on Indian mythology and the Puranas.
The spiritual environment around temples draws large numbers of pilgrims, who buy artifacts to preserve the memory of their visit. Many of these artifacts are treasures in their own right, prized for their ethnic grace and artistry.
Millions of gifted artisans still live in the nooks and corners of India, making exotic handicrafts for domestic and foreign markets. Every Indian state boasts of more than a dozen exquisite handicraft traditions linked to its cultural heritage.
People in India love to wear different types of gold ornaments during festivals and functions, creating demand for the widest variety of designs. Goldsmiths, after honing their skills for generations, also create magnificent pieces for export. Gold jewellery exports reportedly reached Rs 9,546.12 crore by August 2026, a steady 11.81 per cent rise over the previous year — a boom attributable in large part to Indian culture.
Indian culture also creates demand for idols of gods and goddesses made from stone, metal and clay. Intricately carved stone idols and decorative pieces enjoy growing demand worldwide. Indeed, the demand for handicrafts rests mainly on their artistic value. As long as that artistry survives, India will remain a leader in the global handicraft market.
Although the Indian market is flooded with factory-made handicrafts from China, those products cannot match the handmade artistry of Indian crafts. Preserving this handmade artistry is one of the biggest challenges before the Indian government.
The wide diversity of Indian festivals creates demand for a variety of ethnic wear. There is exclusive attire for weddings, thread ceremonies, Holi, New Year celebrations, birthdays and countless rituals. Traditional dresses have growing demand not only in India but abroad — provided traders producing them at scale do not compromise on class and quality.
Likewise, Indian culture creates huge demand for a vast variety of dishes. Every state has developed the skill of making more than a hundred distinctive food items: the famous Sarson da Saag, Makki di Roti, Chole Bhature, Dal Makhani and stuffed parathas of Punjab; Puran Poli, Pav Bhaji, Vada Pav and Khekda Wadi of Maharashtra; Chhena Poda, Arisa Pitha and Rasabali of Odisha; Dal Bati Churma of Rajasthan; the Sadya of Kerala; the Khar of Assam; and the Shorshe Ilish of West Bengal — all now sought after in domestic and foreign food markets.
Many sweet dishes have originated in temples. Fifty-six varieties of delicacies are offered to the deities at the Jagannath temple in Puri. Every ancient temple in India offers exclusive sweets to its deity — the Tirupati temple alone makes four to four and a half lakh laddus a day as prasad. This creates enormous demand for ghee, rice, milk, flour, coconut, besan and sugar. Good-quality ingredients will sustain the popularity of Indian dishes for generations.
Indian culture thus acts as an economic growth booster, generating employment across the entire supply chain. Hundreds of villages around Puri supply milk, food grains, fruits and vegetables to the pilgrim town. The mouth-watering sweets of Puri will endure as long as surrounding villages supply milk from indigenous cows, whose local grains, vegetables and fruits lend the Maha Prasad its unmatched taste and aroma.
The size of India's flower market reached Rs 323.8 billion in 2025 and is expected to touch Rs 793.1 billion by 2034, growing at a CAGR of 10.5 per cent. This enormous demand is driven by Indian culture and its festivals. For the Kumbabishekam of the Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple in Madurai alone, the temple authorities require five tonnes of champak (sampangi), oleander in red, white and pink, star jasmine (iruvaruchi), marigolds in yellow, white and orange, and colourful anthuriums. The annual demand for flowers across the country is too vast to estimate.
Floriculture in India has tremendous potential to generate income and employment — potential that will remain strong as long as the spiritual environment, cleanliness and archaeological significance of temples are preserved. Like flowers, tulsi (holy basil), bilva leaves, banana leaves and hundreds of other fruits and vegetables are linked to Indian culture, and each can contribute to income and employment across the country.
Artists, sculptors and fashion designers still draw their subjects from temple walls, recreating them on new surfaces. Indian culture inspires people to develop a wide range of skills to make biodegradable utility and decorative items — umbrellas from palm leaves, ethnic houses from bamboo and grass, beds from wood, stone and coir, water-lifting tools from coconut stems, cloth and paper from banana fibre — all keeping the environment safe.
The time has come to save these handicraft skills, for they hold the key to India's economic growth and employment.
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