How faith-tech startups & Q-commerce platforms re monetising India’s festival season

Puja essentials brand Om Bhakti, for instance, has launched a premium Diwali kit themed around the Ramayana. Priced at Rs 250, it features rangoli, mauli thread, dhoop, diyas, camphor, kesar chandan and kumkum. The brand has also introduced a nine-oil blend for Navratri. “The idea is to move consumers from loose, unbranded puja products towards packaged and certified offerings,” says Sridhar Joshi, co-founder and CEO of Om Bhakti, adding that festive periods contribute 30% of the company’s revenue.

It also plans to launch online puja services for the festive season. “We cross-sell pujas, temple offerings, prasad and other devotional experiences to our existing astrology audience, broadening the revenue base beyond consultations,” says Arvind Subbarao, co-founder and CEO of iMeUsWe. Similarly, AuraCam, the camphor and puja products brand from pine chemicals industry company, SVD PineChem, has expanded beyond its Bhimseni camphor (derived from the Dryobalanops camphora tree) and camphor tablets into loban, camphor-based fresheners, festive bundles and gift sets.

“Camphor is not just a puja essential, it is a nostalgic part of many Indian households,” says Vivek Dujodwala, MD of SVD PineChem and AuraCam. Delivering convenience At a time when fitness, food, and clothing are readily available, last-minute purchases of ritual essentials, flowers, sweets and décor are also forming a larger share of festival-led spending on q-comm platforms. Swiggy, for instance, is using festival-led promotions to drive discovery and purchases.

Its ‘Quick India Movement’ sale is live, with Navratri essentials starting from Rs 89 and dry-fruit chikki and ladoos priced from Rs 9. Last month, the q-commerce major had introduced ‘temple prasad’ as part of its wider Ganesh Chaturthi assortment, which included DIY Ganpati kits and 24 varieties of modaks across flavours such as kesar, kaju, mava and malai. Interestingly, Instamart had also partnered with major temples during the festival to deliver temple prasad — such as modaks and besan ladoos from the Shri Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai and the Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati Mandir in Pune — directly to doorsteps in minutes across select metros.

“Our endeavour is to bring consumers an assortment that is not only convenient, but also relevant to how they celebrate,” says Gautam Swaroop, chief business officer, Instamart. Similarly, Amazon Now is expanding its festive assortment across puja essentials, sweets, festive foods, décor and gifting, targeting last-minute purchases during Navratri, Dussehra and Diwali. For the ongoing Amazon Great Indian Festival 2026, there is up to 80% off on festive essentials on Amazon Now.

Mindful celebrations While faith remains at the core of their businesses, some platforms are also leading the way in mindful celebrations. One such is Phool, a social enterprise that upcycles temple flower waste into consumer products. It has introduced a special Diwali collection featuring customised lamps, paper lanterns and innovative candles. One of its standout products is a candle spinner, which uses heat generated by a tealight to rotate a small fan-like mechanism.

“We are witnessing strong demand for our products, similar to last year. We expect demand to pick up further, with overall festive business growth of around 20-30%,” says Apurv Misal, head of marketing and sales at Phool. Meanwhile, brassware brand P.TAL, which specialises in handcrafted brass products, is expanding its festive range with puja thali sets and kansa bells. “We expect overall sales to grow by around 150% over last year, which means nearly 2.5x of last year’s festive performance,” says Aditya Agrawal, co-founder and CEO of P.TAL.