Hyderabad, Sept. 1 -- Tucked away near Falaknuma railway station in Hyderabad's Old City, around 100 Muslim families of dholak makers have been living and working for nearly a decade.

Every year, during Ganesh Chaturthi, these families get busy making dholaks of varied sizes at their modest tenements. The dholaks are sold across the city during the ten-day Hindu festival, finding buyers, irrespective of who had manufactured them.

Mohd Munawwar, who is from Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, moves around the city on his moped, selling the dholaks. "Many of my buyers are Hindus. Dholaks are musical instruments and used in devotional programs that include singing bhajans," said Munawwar, who has been in this business for over two decades.

"I make a...