The absolute gamut of temples in the country emphasizes their importance as not just places of spiritual

administration of the Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati, declared a phenomenal ₹3,000 crores (over 351 million

US Dollars) as its earnings for the year 2019-20. It may be noted that the temple not just is the only beneficiary.

The revenue flows into the particular geographical region, into its micro and small businesses including

The Chief Executive Officer of Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust in Varanasi admitted that there are over 3

million footfalls to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple annually and thereby the local area. During the year 2023-24

financial year approx. Rs 85 crore (approx.. 9.9 million US Dollar) is revenue generated through donations and

offerings. In addition to it the micro and small-scale enterprises in the vicinity is also benefitted e.g. the

In Hindu conviction puja or in other words worship is a ceremony which is done in reverence of the deity, with

in Chittoor, Kamakhya Devi Temple in Guwahati, Chintaman Ganesh Temple in Sehore etc, wherein carrying

There is no doubt packaging is intended towards containing, safeguarding, ease in transportation and handling

and also to promote sales. Packaging is also mighty entirety of experience: one that is evocative, emotional,

useful, enjoyable and memorable. It should have the ability to reciprocally reinforce the mood or rather augment

the emotions. Packaging solution come together when the envisaged and contextual components are clearly

Sustainable packaging may be classified into environmental wellbeing, human and social wellbeing or

empowerment and economic growth (Otto S, et. al., 2021). Endeavour is required to maintain a healthy

ecosystem. Many authors mention that achieving absolute sustainability is a real challenge in context to the

situation (Álvarez-Chávez et. al., 2012). The challenge in this study is to extend the efforts to achieve maximum

sustainability with products developed from eco-friendly or natural resources. It is intended to empower a

The resilience towards so called “plastic bashing” to the ecosystem with conscious effort regarding sustainable

packaging alternatives is not only from design or production perspective but also from the user’s perspective.

to lack of education and awareness in the crafts persons and lack of outreach in larger geographical span the

crafts persons receive negligible recognition or financial benefits. There is a Dissonance between income per

However there have been few exceptions e.g. Fabindia. Founded in 1960. Presently it connects over fifty

thousand crafts persons in different craft pockets providing a long term sustainable chain to the crafts persons

Group interview process as a participatory approach: It was participatory (through direct

communication with smaller groups of consumers and shopkeepers e.g. 5-8). A sample of approx. 370

people in Varanasi, Bhopal, Ujjain, Guwahati, Chennai, Omkareshwar, Mathura and Puri (who are

frequent visitors of temples and carry the offerings in plastic baskets). Primary data was collected from

consumers belonging to varied socio-economic background, varying between age group of 15-55 and

Observation process: Many consumers were keenly observed in Varanasi performing the worship

while carrying the offerings in plastic baskets as packaging. It was a time taking process and was

Case studies: Study of various strategic social system models and validation of the focus group

Role play: The prototypes were evaluated in comparison to the existing basket structures applying

The undesirable features: In other words, the drawbacks and problems identified with plastic baskets as

monotonous. It misses the mark towards making the experience evocative, emotional, useful, enjoyable

A pilot design and development activity was initiated by the authors in the cluster. The concepts are developed

giving significance to ergonomical aspects e.g. controllability, tolerance, simplicity and affordance. Few

Role play: The prototypes were evaluated in comparison to the existing basket structures applying factors related

to physical and cognitive ergonomics. There is physiological and biomechanical advantage associated with the

proposed sample in Fig 16. Posturally it requires two to three finger to carry, making it simpler providing better

controllability to the user. In other words it is less complex to use in comparison to the existing baskets (ref Fig

1 and Fig 2), where in ideal circumstance two hands are required. Affordance is profound. The handles

The prototype was taken to Varanasi, Kashi Vishwanath Temple. The intention was to check acceptance and seek

feedback from the other stake holders i.e. shopkeepers selling offering baskets, regular devotees and pilgrimage

There are over 750 shops big and small, surrounding the Kashi Vishwanath Temple selling worship offerings in

baskets. Feedback was taken from 107 of them. The shopkeepers showed acceptance to the concept. It is eco-

friendly. It will add variety to their product line. It has the ability to indulge the user or the person offering prayer

with the traditional or folk feel with sanctity. But they found it expensive in comparison to their existing plastic

keep few i.e. approximately 15- 20 pieces, at their shops to begin with and offer in two ways. Firstly, if a devotee

wants to purchase it with the offerings (and wants to retain the basket as a souvenir), its an outright gain.

cluster and the craft practice. The problems are found to be interdepended. The undesirable aspects or problems

The labyrinth in Fig 17 below depicts the interdependency and connectedness of the undesirable aspects or

A focus group discussion and brain storming exercise was conducted with seven members/ experts. One

entrepreneur, one startup owner, two shopkeepers, one government administrator and two management students.

The entire scenario with regards to the craft, craft cluster the existing market and prospect market was explained