From flower showers and sound systems to giant cranes and record-breaking laddu auctions, Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in Hyderabad sets money flowing across a vast network of businesses, workers and public agencies. The trail runs from the costs borne by organisers to the contracts, livelihoods and public expenditure that sustain the 10-day festival, from the first preparations to the final immersion. Siddharth Kumar Singh traces the scale of the festival’s economy